At a couple of sessions I visit, there's the same guy who is well known for being strongly opinionated and vocal. He takes a great deal of pride in being forthright and as subtle as an air-raid.

A lot of what he says is well intentioned, and is meant to be positive criticism. But he's way too blunt, and comes across as rude. Once, he took me to task for using a "cheat sheet" when singing, at another for singing in a key that was less than ideal for my range.. I internally bristled at this, but because I knew it was well-intentioned, I was able to use what was positive and ignore the method of communication.

However, like a lot of people who pride themselves in being blunt, he also likes to tell you that he's just saying what he thinks and that he hoped that people would tell him to his face when his performance could be improved. One time when he made a remark to this effect, I said quietly : "Well, (name deleted), I'd only feel free to voice my opinion if I knew the other person well enough to be sure how they would receive it, or if they asked me for my views. Otherwise, I'd keep my mouth shut." I've never had any helpful criticism from that direction since.

Cheers

Steven