I'm a communication therapist. This trick has saved me from hundreds of arguments and weird conversations.

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• As a speech-language pathologist, I teach people how to pause strategically.
• I adapted that technique into a simple trick to avoid arguments.
• A small, intentional pause can change how conversations unfold.

I'm a speech-language pathologist, and I've been teaching kids and adults communication skills for a decade.

I support kids who stutter or have lisps as well as students with autism who are considered "nonverbal" — or show limited use of their words.