de-escalation

Empathy in high-stakes situations

Use asking, mirroring, paraphrasing, and priming to hear what others really mean

Use a deep, slow, downward-inflecting voice to project calm authority and trigger trust without triggering defensiveness.

List every terrible thing your counterpart could say about you and say it first to defuse negative dynamics before they take root.

Name your counterpart's emotions to validate them, diffuse negatives, and reinforce positives.