1: The trial is beginning.  The defense attorney rises to give their opening statement.  

They begin by mentioning everything their client is accused of.  They list out all the weaknesses of their case.

Why?

The technique is called “taking the sting out,” Chris Voss writes in Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

And it applies to more than just the court of law.

To prepare … continue reading

1: The experienced fundraiser was perplexed.  

A fundraising executive with the Girl Scouts, she had developed a successful system to connect with donors.  “She’d invite a potential donor to her office, serve a few Girl Scouts cookies, walk her through an album of heartwarming snapshots and handwritten letters from projects that matched the [donor’s] profile, and then collect a check when the donor’s eyes lit up,” Chris Voss writes in … continue reading

1: Imagine it’s Thanksgiving. Sitting in the living room is a grandfather who’s grumbling.  

“He is cranky but the underlying emotion is a sad sense of loneliness from his family never seeing him,” Chris Voss writes in Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

He’s grumpy because he feels like he never sees the family. And he feels lonely. So he’s expressing his feelings … continue reading