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Verbal Defense Against Corporate Psychopath:
Five Points Verbal Response Test
There is no reason to rush any reply when we talk with a corporate
psychopath. This is actually not a talk. It is a mixture of interrogation
with provocation and you need to be vigilant against dirty tricks. This
five point test permits to avoid the trivial errors. To get used to it you
might wish to assign each question to a finger and close fingers one by
one as you check them.
- [Deflection test] Should be defect
the question as inappropriate.
- [Pause test] Did you made a proper
pause (10 seconds is minimum). In response needed at all ? (silence
is gold). If needed if can you ask to release the question to ensure
you understand it correctly and to have time to prepare for the answer
(Stanislavski used to say "the greater the
artists the greater the pause" ;-)
- [Negative politeness test] Is your
response non-confrontational? Does it contain sarcasm, "always/never"
language. Do not try to communicate your emotional state. It does not
matter.
- [Factuality test] Are you trying
to communicate the facts and only the facts? Convey only one thought
in each sentence. Do not provide extra information as it often can serve
as ammunition against you.
- [Information leakage test] Do you
elaborate or volunteer sensitive information to the psychopath.
Psychopaths are great in playing weak spots and provoking you to be
frank. Never do this. People have moments of weakness communicating
with a psychopath (Stockholm syndrome ?) and in such moment can tell
the other party things about which they can regret for a long time.
Think about psychopath as other, evil specie of humans: they really
are.
Extended list
A helpful tip that simplifies communication with corporate psychopath
is to imagine yourself in torture camera with an inquisitor presiding questioning
you. It's actually pretty close analogy as he/she is you boss and being
a sadist enjoy inflicting pain. Other useful analogy that can help is deposition
in a court. Here you can find several useful links on the Internet. You
can also try to imitate a robot -- that a very good counter play against
corporate psychopath because he is also a robot that assumed human mask
-- everything is false in him/her, emotions, statement of qualification,
facts of biography he/she carefully reveled, etc.
- Listen carefully to every question and make a pause before the
answer. Always (I mean always !) pause
5 or 10 seconds before answering, make sure you understand the question,
think it over, and only then try to answer; then be direct with your
answer. Those 5-10 seconds can save you from a lot of
troubles.
- Short answers are the best. Do not offer any information
you more than asked of you. Answer only
the question asked of you, and then stop talking. Do
not add any commentary. One of the oldest (and most effective) techniques
is, once you've given your answer, the lawyer looks at you as if to
say: "Keep talking." Do not fall into this trap. Just look back at him
calmly and politely as if to say: "I am waiting on you to ask another
question."
- Systematically use pause before an answer to weight and reassess
your options. Do not jump to answer or reply to anything.
Do not attempt to be smooth.
This is not a conversation. You might use you watches to ensure proper
pause before an answer or to keep silence and back off if you speak
too much.
- Be very polite and very formal, practice
negative politeness. Always
say: "Yes, sir," or "No, ma'am," ....
- Never argue, just state the facts. Avoid Absolute
Words. You are well advised to avoid, where possible, absolute words
such as "always" and "never." Absolute words
are an invitation to additional questions: never say "never"...
-
Don’t elaborate or volunteer any information. Volunteering
information can be one of the biggest mistakes an expert makes at deposition.
Generally, an expert should answer only the questions she is asked and
not volunteer information. The volunteering of information will almost
always result in new lines of cross-examination. It may also disclose
information to which counsel otherwise never would have become privy.
- Do not, for any reason, exhibit hostile feelings or aggression
towards corporate psychopath.
- Do not tell jokes or say anything sarcastic...
- Keep your composure, maintain your focus and your credibility.
Ignore emotional tantrums from psychopath as they are usually carefully
planned provocations. They are provocations and are aimed squarely to
get you out of balance so that you make a mistake or blunder.
- Ask for a break, or ask permission to bring coffee if you feel
the need to expend some emotion or situation got out of control
Copyright © 1996-2009 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov.
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Last updated:
August 13, 2009