How to Deal With Gossips

It's easy to get sucked into gossip, but it only causes pain.

Whether it's at work, school or social functions, gossip can rear its ugly head. Dealing with gossips can feel like a never-winning battle. While it is true that you cannot change another person's behavior, you can change how you react to it. The key to dealing with gossips is not giving them the reactions for which they are looking.

Instructions

1. Confront the gossip and let him know how you are feeling. Say something like, "I feel frustrated with our interactions," as opposed to "I feel frustrated with you." There are times when a gossip does not realize how his actions are affecting others.

2. Ignore gossip about you as much as possible. Instead of fighting back with words, use your actions to prove the gossip wrong.

3. Tell the gossip that you are uncomfortable with what she is saying when she gossips about others to you. If the gossip knows that you will not engage her in the gossip, she is more likely to stop.

4. Walk away when you hear people gossiping. The fewer people who get involved in the gossip, the less likely it is to occur.

5. Report the gossip to a boss or teacher if it gets out of hand. When gossip leaves the realm of snide chatter and crosses over into bullying, you need to take further action.

References

• The Washington Post; Dealing With the Office Gossip; Kenneth Bredemeier; August 2005
• Business Training Works: Dealing With Office Gossip
• 2 Know Myself; How to Deal With People Who Gossip About You; M. Farouk Radwan, MSc.