When something so awkward happens that you can only stare at the ground, hoping it will open up and swallow you, saving you from the cringe, the best thing you can do is...call more attention to it. Yes, really.

That means uttering these four words: “Well, that was awkward!” Or: “That was certainly honest!” In addition to acknowledging the inappropriate or uncomfortable comment and framing it as something positive—the truth—you’re signaling your desire to change the course of the conversation, says Jenny Shields, a psychologist in Houston. The approach works in all sorts of scenarios: farting in polite company, blurting out an “I love you” that takes the recipient aback, enthusiastically waving back at someone who was actually greeting the person behind you, showing someone a cat pic on y

See Full Page