Apr 05, 2021

Do an accusation audit

Before going into a negotiation or any situation where you might have to deliver some bad news, you should prepare with an accusation audit.

An accusation audit is brainstorming every possible accusation that your counterpart might have against you. The point of this exercise is to come up with a list so that you can bring light to the accusations when you meet with them.

That’s right, you want to air out your own dirty laundry without your counterpart prompting it. Even if your counterpart isn’t planning on discussing their reservations, they exist and are holding them back from wanting to cooperate with you.

This is an extension of the idea talked about in the last post. Labeling the negative emotions of your counterpart takes away their power and leads to more rapport to move forward.

This idea is from Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.