I’ve been watching YouTube videos by Caesar Milan. He’s known as the dog whisperer. In the videos he goes to a home where there is a dog with behavior problems. One of the techniques he emphasizes is to get the dog calm before trying to train the dog. He is patient as he waits for the dog to calm down before he takes the next step. It’s also a good strategy we can use when we are dealing with people who are angry or overly excited. We can help them to calm down by being calm ourselves. A good strategy is to be aware of our voice. If we talk lower and softer than the angry or excited person, we’ll gradually move them in that direction. They, like the dogs Caesar deals with will be easier to work with once they are in a calmer state.