Art of saying no

Learn to say NO and mean it

• You don’t want to be rude• You don’t want to ruin the

relationship• You don’t want to miss out• You don’t want to feel guilty

THE ROLE OF GUILT IN SAYING NO

• Saying no is hard for many of us

• Guilt often comes into play

• Its beyond our comfort level

• Practice saying no in front of the mirror

• Look yourself in the eye and do it

• Experiment different ways of saying no until you find the one you are comfortable with

• Then go ahead and say no

HOW TO SAY NO• Honesty is the best policy• Don't over explain• Give a reason why

• If you are serious about saying no stick to your word

• If you are comfortable expressing your reasons then do so by speaking from personal perspective

After you say NO

• Know your commitments, and how valuable your time is. Then, when someone asks you to dedicate some of your time to a new commitment, you’ll have a better sense of whether or not you can do it.

• Even if you do have some extra time, is this new commitment really the way you want to spend that time?

• For many of us, the demands on our time are ever increasing. Working “smarter” and more efficiently will help, but may not totally solve the problem. You may need to accept the fact that you cannot do it all anymore. Thus, learning to say “no” becomes even more crucial.

• AS YOU CONSIDER SAYING “NO,” HONOUR AND KNOW YOURSELF • Value your time• Know your priorities• Limits to “working”

smarter.

• Practice saying “NO”• Practice makes repetition. Also, repeating your

“no” may be necessary to get a message through to extremely persistent people.

• Don’t apologize• You don’t need to be apologetic about

guarding your time. • Be nice to yourself

• Be nice to you by guarding your time• Pre-Empting

• It’s often much easier to pre-empt requests than to say “no” to them after the request has been made

• Get back to you• Instead of providing an immediate answer, say

you’ll give their request some thought and get back to them.

THE GENTLE ART OF SAYING

“NO”

• The “Wet Lettuce NO”

• If you are going to say no, you must

say it in a way that means no

• The “Mr Angry NO”

• It is done in an aggressive manner and

unhealthy way

• The assertive NO

• NO should be said in a firm yet polite

way

• Use effective body language

• Non verbal communications like eye

contact, head shaking, firm tone should

be used

Tips on how

to say your

NO

• You will feel much more confident and proud

• You will find that practice makes perfect-the more you confidently say “NO” the easier it becomes

• Others will respect your wishes and take you seriously the first time you say “NO”

• You wont find yourself doing things you never wanted to do in the first place

• You’ll have more time to focus on the things you do want to be involved in

When you

say NO

It is only by saying NO you

can concentrate on the

things that are really

important

- Steve Jobs

Envisioned by

B.Maran

nc.maran@gmail.com