Is it appropriate and justifiable to use profanity in an effort to gain compliance from a subject who fails to follow your verbal commands? Dr. George Thompson, founder of the Verbal Judo Institute, approached that question in a recent class I attended.
In Thompson’s expert opinion, since profanity “colors actions negatively” it should be avoided for both tactical and legal reasons.
From a tactical perspective, the increased intensity of your voice, facial expressions and body language when issuing commands that include swearing — not necessarily the words themselves — are what makes the commands finally work. The use of profanity can work against you by “setting someone off.”
And from a legal perspective, foul language appears unprofessional and uncontrolled, which could reflect negatively on you in court.
End game? Use forceful and professionally appropriate verbal commands in combination with assertive facial expressions and body language to gain compliance. Why take the chance of setting off the person you are dealing with, or offending those persons who will eventually have to review and pass judgement on your actions?
