Diplomats are masters at negotiation, conflict mediation and resolution, and communicating effectively with tact and grace—essential life skills that can help us get ahead in life and improve our personal relationships while still standing up for ourselves and our beliefs and values. Learn a thing or five from this journalist who has been covering foreign affairs and all things diplomatic for over a decade as well as chronicling her experiences as a diplomatic spouse in her website Almost Diplomatic, which is also the name of her column in the Manila Bulletin.