"Committee communications" is what he called it. I had been suggesting that each person have a chance to speak, going around the table one at a time, with no crosstalk. Then when everyone had had a chance to speak, go into discussion mode.

He said to me, this type of committee communications is what it sounds like--like my Unitarian Universalist (UU) committees or groups, quoth he. I said, well, yes, that's where I learned it. I use it all the time in my Small Group, in Board Meetings, everywhere.

And he's a UU too. It was as though I had encountered an old friend I hadn't met yet. The basic sense of respect that comes through in UU meetings and groups was something we both recognized immediately. Very different from the others in today's group, all vying to be firstest with the mostest, louder, faster, stronger, righter.

I didn't know my communication style had changed so radically until this happened. And how right it feels.