How To Lower Your Bills: Tips From The FBI’s Top Hostage Negotiator
er feel like the cable company or your phone service provider is charging too much? Ever feel helpless to do much about it? You're not crazy. When you call them the customer service rep is reading from a script. I know somebody who has worked on producing those scripts -- he's a Harvard trained negotiator. An expert. He makes sure the phrasing triggers reciprocity and subtly includes a number of other techniques to benefit them -- and not you. So when you…
8 minutes
How To Make Difficult Conversations Easy
meone is screaming in your face at the top of their lungs. Or ranting angrily and you can't get a word in edgewise. Or maybe they're sobbing so hard you can barely understand what they're saying. We've all been there. These situations don't happen a lot (thank god) but we all feel helpless when they do. And because they're rare we don't ever seem to get better at handling them. Problem is, these moments are often critical because they're usually with people…
9 minutes
5 Non-Evil Ways To Get People To Do What You Want, From Dan Pink
ve posted about getting people to like you, winning arguments and FBI methods for negotiation -- but let's take it to the next level. There are ways to deal with people who are difficult but brass tacks here, folks: most of the people who cause you problems aren't going anywhere. You work with them, you live with them, heck, in many cases you love them, but the people closest to us can still cause a lot of problems. How do we…
9 minutes
Seduction, Power and Mastery: 3 Lessons From History’s Greatest Minds
at can we learn about human nature and the way the world works from reading history? This has been the territory of Robert Greene. He is the New York Times bestselling author of 48 Laws Of Power, The Art of Seduction, and Mastery, among other books. Combining the lessons of thousands of years, what do you learn about the fundamental subjects of seduction, power and mastery? I called Robert to find out. Seduction What's at the root of seduction? Surprise. Robert…
6 minutes
Sun Tzu’s Art of War: How Ancient Strategy Can Lead To Modern Success
eryone reveres The Art of War. 1500 years old, this ancient Chinese text is still utilized by both militaries and business schools around the world. And it should be -- research shows these unconventional tactics work. When Davids don't fight by Goliaths' rules they win 63% of battles. Via David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants: When the political scientist Ivan Arreguín-Toft did the calculation a few years ago, what he came up with was 71.5…
6 minutes
5 Expert Ways To Deal With Difficult People — And Make Them Love You
ve posted a great deal on working with difficult people and how to make people like you. What new research and expert advice can we use to better deal with difficult people? The Feedback Sandwich Doesn't Work -- This Does Nobody likes delivering bad news. Stanford's Jeffrey Pfeffer recommends having someone else do it whenever possible. But what about when it's unavoidable? Don't do the old "feedback sandwich" of positive comment, negative comment, positive comment. Research shows it's better to be…
5 minutes
4 Powerful Things Con Men Can Teach You About Persuasion
ank Abagnale impersonated Pan Am pilots and doctors, traveled the world and scammed people for millions. And he was 17 years old at the time. Via Catch Me If You Can: I wasn’t a Pan Am pilot or any other kind of pilot. I was an impostor, one of the most wanted criminals on four continents, and at the moment I was doing my thing, putting a super hype on some nice people. I was a millionaire twice over and half…
6 minutes
Top 10 FBI Behavioral Unit Techniques For Building Rapport With Anyone
bin Dreeke is head of the FBI's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. In his book It's Not All About "Me": The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone he simply and clearly spells out methods for connecting with people. Here's a quick breakdown of the methods. 1) Establish artificial time constraints Nobody wants to feel trapped in an awkward conversation with a stranger. Robin often begins a conversation with something along the lines of "I'm on my way out but before…
6 minutes
