{"id":23153,"date":"2021-01-16T09:17:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T13:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=23153"},"modified":"2021-01-17T14:13:11","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T18:13:11","slug":"chris-voss-accusation-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/chris-voss-accusation-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Voss: How to Do an Accusation Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Chris Voss accusation audit strategy? How can it help you get an upper hand in a negotiation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chris Voss, an accusation audit is a form of emotional labeling<\/a> which involves labeling your counterpart\u2019s negative emotions\u2014but about you<\/em> specifically. The aim of an accusation audit is to trigger empathy in your opponent and diffuse tension by putting it all out there in the open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read about the Chris Voss accusation audit strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Chris Voss Accusation Audit Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Chris Voss, an accusation audit is a twist on emotional labeling<\/a> which involves listing all of the negative things that your negotiating counterpart may be thinking or feeling about you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

List every bad thing your counterpart could say about you at the beginning of the negotiation<\/strong>. This defuses the situation immediately and puts it all right out there in the open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This might sound like, \u201cI know I didn\u2019t hand in that sales report on time. You probably think I\u2019m lazy, uncommitted, inattentive to detail, and that I don\u2019t care about wasting your time or everybody else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, you ask for input based on that list. This is where the tactic really works its magic. Most of the self-accusations you\u2019ve labeled sound ridiculous and even paranoid<\/strong> when you vocalize them one right after the other. You\u2019ll actually trigger their<\/em> innate human empathy by painting the worst possible picture of yourself to them: they\u2019ll want to reassure <\/strong>you<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>that you\u2019re not as bad as you\u2019ve portrayed yourself. The admissions and acknowledgments cause the other party to seek common ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your counterpart might respond to the above accusation audit by saying, \u201cOK look, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re lazy or that you don\u2019t care. This was definitely a mistake but let\u2019s try and fix it.\u201d Right away, you\u2019ve reset the negotiating dynamic. It\u2019s all based in the basic psychological need that all humans have for empathy and connection<\/a>: we all have an inherent need to forge some kind of connection to the person across the table<\/strong>. Through an accusation audit, you\u2019ve forced them to make the next move in building that empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We actually do this intuitively all the time. Anytime you preface a critique of someone with \u201cI don\u2019t want to sound harsh, but…\u201d you\u2019re doing an accusation audit<\/strong>. You\u2019re priming<\/a> them to think and respond, \u201cNo, you\u2019re not being harsh.\u201d This makes them empathize with you: you\u2019re making them concerned about your<\/em> guilt at being harsh rather than the critique you\u2019re actually delivering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the Chris Voss accusation audit strategy? How can it help you get an upper hand in a negotiation? According to Chris Voss, an accusation audit is a form of emotional labeling which involves labeling your counterpart\u2019s negative emotions\u2014but about you specifically. The aim of an accusation audit is to trigger empathy in your opponent and diffuse tension by putting it all out there in the open. Read about the Chris Voss accusation audit strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[185],"class_list":["post-23153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-never-split-the-difference","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nChris Voss: How to Do an Accusation Audit - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prepare for a negotiation with the Chris Voss accusation audit strategy. 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