Interviews were stressful, at least from this side of the table. She wondered if her research subjects typically felt as nervous as she did now. It wasn't exactly the same, but one could argue the stakes were somewhat higher, even if she did promise they would remain anonymous.
"Certainly. Despite what women might have you believe from their behavior in a ballroom, I've met with no shortage of difficult personalities," she said. She was trying for a joke but wasn't entirely sure it was appropriate to joke about this sort of thing — hopefully the Minister had some experience with mercenary society women and could appreciate where she was coming from, at least. Unfortunately here she could hardly give specific examples, unless she wanted to sound like a gossip columnist (ha!) Maybe it would be alright if she left the names off, but described a specific situation? She really didn't want to give the Minister the impression that she liked to talk about people, though — was it better to veer more abstract?
"The trick is to make them feel they've had their way, without giving up any of your ground," she continued, aiming for a compromise between the two extremes: specific steps in response to an unspoken example. "Sympathetic expression and some placating comments while fixing them a cup of tea. Often they've burnt themselves out by then, anyway — sometimes they only have so much steam and once they've said their piece they're quite mollified already. Then I just tell them how it's going to be, but in that same tone that makes them think I'm agreeing with something they've already said. Sometimes for the particularly tricky ones I throw in some extra benefit for them that doesn't cost us anything, as though I'm doing them a favor. That works wonders. Say someone storms in and wants to be seen right away, and that's not possible. Three minutes later they're quietly drinking a cup of tea, and two minutes after that they're out the door with an appointment for Tuesday, and they feel as though they've won because I gave them the ten o'clock instead of the noon." She shrugged. "I've actually found it's rather easy to manipulate most people if you don't take anything they're saying personally. Well — perhaps I shouldn't use the word manipulate," she amended with a frown. "I suppose it's not very nice, but it's wonderfully efficient."
"Certainly. Despite what women might have you believe from their behavior in a ballroom, I've met with no shortage of difficult personalities," she said. She was trying for a joke but wasn't entirely sure it was appropriate to joke about this sort of thing — hopefully the Minister had some experience with mercenary society women and could appreciate where she was coming from, at least. Unfortunately here she could hardly give specific examples, unless she wanted to sound like a gossip columnist (ha!) Maybe it would be alright if she left the names off, but described a specific situation? She really didn't want to give the Minister the impression that she liked to talk about people, though — was it better to veer more abstract?
"The trick is to make them feel they've had their way, without giving up any of your ground," she continued, aiming for a compromise between the two extremes: specific steps in response to an unspoken example. "Sympathetic expression and some placating comments while fixing them a cup of tea. Often they've burnt themselves out by then, anyway — sometimes they only have so much steam and once they've said their piece they're quite mollified already. Then I just tell them how it's going to be, but in that same tone that makes them think I'm agreeing with something they've already said. Sometimes for the particularly tricky ones I throw in some extra benefit for them that doesn't cost us anything, as though I'm doing them a favor. That works wonders. Say someone storms in and wants to be seen right away, and that's not possible. Three minutes later they're quietly drinking a cup of tea, and two minutes after that they're out the door with an appointment for Tuesday, and they feel as though they've won because I gave them the ten o'clock instead of the noon." She shrugged. "I've actually found it's rather easy to manipulate most people if you don't take anything they're saying personally. Well — perhaps I shouldn't use the word manipulate," she amended with a frown. "I suppose it's not very nice, but it's wonderfully efficient."
Prof. Marlowe Forfang
Jules