What are my credentials to be able to teach this?

First, experience, or been-there-done-that.  The difference between FistFull Language and FistFree Language™ is like night and day.  My tongue was registered as a lethal weapon.  Like most people who use strong and aggressive language (they aren’t the same thing), I thought that as the stakes got higher and the pressure increased, you just pushed harder to get ahead.  It works — for a short while.  But as everyone who uses aggressive language will tell you, after a while it doesn’t work as well.  So, you ratchet it up.  You keep needing stronger and stronger language to get the effect you want.  You find yourself using a lot of effort to get nowhere.  And you get tired of it all; you feel down when the adrenaline rush is over.  Things changed when I started using FistFree Language™.  Life got easier, and I became more successful at resolving conflicts and in dealing with toxic people.

Second, I am a lawyer.  Yes, lawyers work with conflicts all the time.  More importantly, lawyers are trained to analyze mounds of information from different angles.  Most lawyers offices are stuffed with papers because of all the information we need to work with.  We need to be able to sort through all the information we gather, to find the “good stuff” (that is, good, solid, reliable, relevant information) and to understand where the other side is coming from.  I’ve applied those research and analytical skills to the challenge of using language to resolve conflict.

FistFree Language™ uses information on how our brains process information, on how we think, what conflict is all about, and combines this information with proven language tools.  If you think of these as pieces of a puzzle, FistFree Language™ takes these pieces, shows you what they are and how to put them together.  It’s FistFree Language™, and it works!

I can almost hear you ask me, “Why do I need to learn all that stuff?  All I really need to know is how to stop my anger,” Or “how to defend myself against a bully,” Or “how to ignore all the garbage that goes on”.  Whether we find ourselves in an awkward situation or in a conflict, what we need are options.  Choices.  Because each situation is different, even if only slightly different.  General advice and pat answers often don’t work well.  Since you’re the one making the choices, you’re the one who needs to have the knowledge behind the principles so that you can tailor your response to the particular situation you’re in.

FistFree Language™ is a combination of knowing what’s involved, what works and how and why it works.  And it’s all wrapped up in that wonderful thing we call language.