"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy." — Howard W. Newton

submitted by magnora7 from i.redd.it

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[–]Tom_Bombadil 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

The man talks like a square, and the woman is wagging her finger at him.

Not exactly tactful...

[–]Mnemonic 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

http://www.poorlydrawnlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/shapes-club.png

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I love it!

[–]happysmash27 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Hey, this word described what I like so much about SaidIt! I have yet to make an enemy here despite many points being made by both me and others :)

Does anyone have any tips to be more tactful? Of course, not doing ad hominem attacks helps, and one method I think might work could be using emoticons to make sure one's message does not have a very harsh tone. Kaomoji and other detailed emoticons can work very well for this.

[–]i_cansmellthat 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think when approaching a statement which you feel is not factual, the goal should be to enlighten and not to invalidate. No one likes to be told their opinion or statement is wrong, they then feel the need to defend. State things in a way that doesn't attack the person/statement, and isn't being said to inflate one's own ego. And be open to the fact that you might be wrong.

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That's good to hear! My best advice for being tactful is to try your best to move discussion upward on the pyramid of debate: https://saidit.net/static/debatepyramid.jpg

[–]wizzwizz4 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Type out your message… then verify the assertions. Then edit your message to correct the false ones. Then check if it supports the argument you were originally trying to make.

Try to attack your own arguments before the other person does, so the low-hanging fruit isn't there and only meaningful rebuttals are valid.