Chapter 9

AVOIDING AND ESCAPING TRAPS

When an elephant steps on a trap, no more trap.

—AFRICAN PROVERB

 

Unfortunately, we’re not elephants. If you step in a trap when you’re trying to break through and win people over, chances are pretty good that the trap is going to win.

Traps can exist when you’re communicating in normal or tough situations, but when you step in one in a normal situation, your audience probably won’t notice. Or they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and ignore it. In a tough situation, falling into a trap will begin to erode your CODE score, and if you don’t escape quickly, you won’t be able to win over people when they’re angry, worried, and suspicious of everything you say.

It’s easy enough to step into a trap all ...

Get What to Say When Things Get Tough: Business Communication Strategies for Winning People Over When They're Angry, Worried and Suspicious of now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.