Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
15
votes
5 answers

How can I tactfully approach not wanting to read someone's unpublished/self-published book?

A lot of people who know me know I like to read, I read a lot of different things, and I read quickly. I also like to post about what I read on Twitter or my Goodreads profile. The problem is, people seem to mistake my ability to read quickly and…
user75
15
votes
5 answers

How to minimize embarrassment when I ask a question but they nod and smile?

The Background I work with a LOT of non-native English speakers. As such, miscommunications are a daily occurrence. I've noticed that sometimes when they don't understand something, they'll just nod and smile, or smile and say "yeah." Whether this…
scohe001
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How to apologise for how you said something without going back on the content

A long term friend (the trend on IPS seems to be to call her 'Alice') is a little promiscuous and quite often uses her charms to get guys to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. A guy we recently met has fallen for her and has been there for every…
FreeElk
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How to ask a friend/roommate to do/to stop doing something? And how not to feel bad asking?

There are different situations where I would like to ask a friend or a roommate to do something or to stop doing something. For example, I have a roommate that sometimes doesn't wash his dishes and I don't like it. How can I politely ask him to…
Sergey Gulbin
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4 answers

How do I tell my parents I don't enjoy their company?

I moved to a new country (Canada) for university about a year ago. I am doing well in my studies. I'm not so well mentally but that's always been an issue even back home. My parents often come to visit and want to stay for about 2-3 months (which…
BoomShakalaka
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How do I ask for "forgiveness" after asking a good friend's ex out?

See this question for more context. I plan on asking my friend Penny out. However, the tricky part of this situation is that Penny and my good friend Kyle dated for about a year. They broke up two months ago on good terms. I developed romantic…
Arthas
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5 answers

How to follow up with someone who lost a loved one?

My friend's dad died two days ago. I gave her my condolences that same day. My question is, should I check up on her on a interval basis? Like everyday, every two days, etc.? And what kind of things to say after the first condolences? I mean, I…
Felipe Gavilán
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2 answers

Is there any research showing whether sandwich feedbacks are more effective than other forms of feedback?

So, I've been taught to 'sandwich feedback'. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, it means you start and end with giving compliments, and put the feedback in between those compliments. For me, this feels very unnatural though and fake…
Tinkeringbell
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How to gracefully usher people out of my office at the conclusion of an appointment?

In my job, I have a lot of individual consultations1, and I'd like some help figuring out how to behave when these are ending. For context, this is in a small town in the Midwestern US, in an area where folks really prize "niceness" and certain…
1006a
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Best way to tell a new friend I'd like to date her

Last summer I met this girl at a festival. I had this almost instant feeling she's perfect girlfriend material. Turns out though that just a few days earlier she'd fallen for another guy at the festival and they ended up going on a trip afterwards.…
BeeBop
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6 answers

How to tell a girl that I want to "try" to date her

The story so far: About two weeks ago I found a girl online that sparked my interest, and because of that I would like to date her, to see if we end up growing fonder of each other. She is my type but I'm unsure if I'm her type. We've been talking…
diomonogatari
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2 answers

My dog and I offended a new neighbor. How do we make it right?

Things are hopping in the neighborhood with new neighbors and new problems. Some are hard to believe. With three dogs, the youngest (6 months old) with reactivity issues (which usually show up at about 5 months), I thought it best to go ahead and…
anongoodnurse
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How to talk to a dean about depression

So I have a meeting with the dean of my school later today. He's a really nice guy, and thinks pretty highly of me (so he's told me, on multiple occasions). We need to talk about the past semester, where I didn't do so well in some important…
Samuel
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3 answers

How to respond to self-deprecating remarks

I have a few friends who will try to manipulate me with self deprecating remarks. Perhaps I've been helping them with something for a while and am obviously making moves to leave when they say something like: "Oh I am sorry, I'm such a burden, I'm…
Lio Elbammalf
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How to deal with someone who won't leave me alone?

My partner works in a book store. Because of the way the company is set up, she mostly works alone (95% of the working day). She has a regular "customer" (I use quotes because he never buys anything) who will come in and hang around trying to talk…
Bamboo
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