smooth talk

Were they the smiles of an authoritarian leader under pressure, a man desperately trying to smooth-talk his way out of sanctions that threaten the stability of his regime?

The Vanity Fair editorship has long been considered to require an elusive set of attributes, from news judgement to the ability to smooth-talk neurotic celebrities and manage an annual Oscars party.

“I need to go to work, son,” he tried to smooth-talk me.

After luring Craig Bellamy to his two previous clubs, Blackburn and Manchester City, and picking him for Wales, the manager knows just how to smooth-talk the striker, and he was at it again when he was asked whether he was dusting off those previously successful overtures to his fellow Welshman.