There is a time and place for everything, especially for conversations.

Some conversations are just not appropriate or necessary in certain situations. Ever heard of the phrase putting your foot in your mouth? That is the result of not doing what I like to call gauging your audience.

The art of gauging your audience is one that we should all become masters in. It would save a lot of people from embarrassing themselves.

When we gauge our audience we evaluate our surroundings and our audience to see if what we are saying is necessary for the situation we are in. If who or what you are talking about is not pertinent for your audience then you should do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself. This doesn’t necessarily mean that what your saying is mean or rude just that it is not appropriate for everyone to hear.

If you gauge your audience before you open your mouth then you can save yourself from shoving your foot from unnecessary comments.

This concept applies to any part of your life from more private moments like a little gossip session with friends to big business meetings.

For instance, when women get pregnant they keep the information to a very small audience until the second trimester. This is an instance where the audience is gauged to keep information private until a certain period of time. Another instance is when you’re leaving a class and you know it was boring but you choose not to say it out loud because you know there is a chance your teacher could hear and it’s just plain disrespectful. Especially, when you can walk down the hall with the teacher out of earshot and say it then.

Misjudgement of your audience can be a huge flaw because you might have placed trust in someone who cannot be trusted. When that scenario takes place, you simply cannot do much and if your conversation gets repeated at least you revealed the weak link in your network chain. I’m sure I'm not the only one who said the wrong thing in front of the wrong person thinking it was fine but ultimately it wasn’t.

Overall, it is a simple yet helpful lesson to learn. Gauge your audience to keep a solid reputation.