As bestselling author Suzette Haden Elgin proves, you don't have tolive your life on red alert. With her Gentle Art of VerbalSelf-Defense techniques, you'll be able to respond clearly tohostile comments from others--or deliver necessary negativemessages of your own--without sacrificing your dignity orprinciples. You'll learn to: * Keep domestic disagreements from escalating * Deliver criticism to coworkers, employers, or employees * Handle aggressive, negative comments about race, politics, orreligion * Provide discipline without increasing hostility * Use language that reduces tension and creates rapport in everysituation