Quote Originally Posted by Shorty View Post
Any and all advice I ever read from Neil Gaiman I treat as if it were gold.

And after the conversation was over, Clive took me aside. He said, "When we were talking, you were getting louder and louder."

I had been. It was a noisy bar. And I'd had important things to say and huge opinions and dammit, I was determined to be heard.

He said, "Neil, don't do that. If you get loud, everyone else gets louder to top you. And then everyone's shouting and nobody's listening. If you want everyone to listen to you, get quieter. People will listen."
Really, it's advice from Clive Barker, I suppose. It's difficult for me to take this into my life because I get worked up and respond as such. But when I have, it has worked. It's just a matter of remembering to do it and to not fall into habits, which is hard for me.
I got that advice as a student teacher and it was gold. Don't ever try to talk over the class--make sure they have to shut up to hear you.