Prepare for a Difficult Conversation
Added 2026-11-02
Set the goal, the opening and your bottom line before you start.
I have a difficult conversation coming up (details below). Prepare: 1) the one goal I want from it; 2) the first three sentences, stating facts without blame; 3) my bottom line and what I can concede; 4) three likely pushbacks and my responses; 5) how to close if it breaks down, keeping the door open for another round; 6) which sentence, once said, cannot be taken back.
Site original
Chinese original
How to use
难谈的对话，目标越少越可能谈成。
Try tweaking it
- Ask for three columns: conclusion, owner, deadline — ready to paste into a table.
- Let it organise only your notes; do not add decisions that were never made.
What you should get
- Task list with owner, deadline and blocker
- Escalations that need a decision, listed separately
Common mistakes
- Feeding raw notes and letting it fill in decisions that were never made.
- Getting owners without deadlines, so no task can be created.
How to check the output
- Every item has an owner and a date — ready to become a task.
- It does not record decisions that were never made.
Where it works
- Good for: turning verbal discussion into owner, deadline and blocker.
- Watch out: let it organise only the notes you supply — never let it infer decisions that were not made.