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Summary: Never Split the Difference
My book summaries are designed as captures for what I’ve read, and aren’t necessarily great standalone resources for those who have not read the book.Their purpose is to ensure that I capture what I learn from any given text, so as to avoid realizing years later that I have no idea what it was about or how I benefited from it.
My One-Sentence Summary
This book gives you negotiating skills so good that I feel guilty telling you about them—because they can be used to seriously manipulate people.
Content Extraction
The key to negotiation is deep listening
Tactical empathy is listening specifically for the real obstacles that are stopping progress
Mirrors are used to let people know you’re empathizing with them, and to keep talking so you learn more about the situation
Labeling is when you call out the obstacles you’ve heard while listening, like saying, “It sounds like you think I’m here just for myself.”, or “What I’m hearing is that you care more about the quality then making a dollar.”
Hearing “no” is often far better than yes because it gives you information about boundaries and sensitivities
There are three kinds of yes: counterfeit, confirmation, and commitment
What you really want to hear is, “that’s right”, and you can get there partially by labeling their emotions
Pivot to non-monetary terms
Ask calibrated questions like, “How am I supposed to do that?” to get them to talk more and to learn more about the situation
Only 7 percent of a message is based on the words while 38 percent comes from the tone of voice and 55 percent from the speaker’s body language and face
When calculating final amounts, use precise non-round numbers
At the end also add in a non-financial request to show you’re finished
Find the black swan information that can help you avoid disaster and get what you’re after
You don’t rise to the occasion in negotiations; you fall to the least level of preparation.
Takeaways
Read this book once every two years
Don’t share this book with evil people; it’ll introduce harm into the world
Use these techniques for mutual benefit, not to screw people over
You can find my other book summaries here.
Notes
Seriously, this is the closest thing to magic spells I’ve ever seen in a book.
One of my only 10/10 reviews.