Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
Right now, I am interested in a non-sexy; but important area of self-defense. Deescalating conflict strictly through verbal communication. One question that has come up for me is under what conditions is it productive to raise your voice and issue commands vs. being calm and quiet in your tone of voice.
It seems to me that there is a valid role for commands, especially if you have some symbol of authority backing you up (badge, uniform, etc.). On the other hand, it seems like raising your voice and issuing commands is going to escalate conflict in a lot of situations as well, particularly if you don't have that authority backing you and are just an average guy trying to deflect another average guy who is having a bad day.
I know we have some members here who are in law enforcement and probably have some good "gut" feelings about which one to use and when, I was hoping maybe one of them could articulate the things they look for when making the decision whether to try a "command voice" or a "calm voice" in order to deescalate a situation.
It seems to me that there is a valid role for commands, especially if you have some symbol of authority backing you up (badge, uniform, etc.). On the other hand, it seems like raising your voice and issuing commands is going to escalate conflict in a lot of situations as well, particularly if you don't have that authority backing you and are just an average guy trying to deflect another average guy who is having a bad day.
I know we have some members here who are in law enforcement and probably have some good "gut" feelings about which one to use and when, I was hoping maybe one of them could articulate the things they look for when making the decision whether to try a "command voice" or a "calm voice" in order to deescalate a situation.