118 How to Sell Yourself
of very simple, basic questions that establish the belief that this is
going to be a no-brainer. Then, when you’ve picked up their rhythm,
along comes the zinger.
- “State your full name.” Fast answer.
- “Where do you live?” Fast answer.
- “How long have you lived there?” Fast answer.
- “Are you married?” Fast answer.
- “Where do you work?” Fast answer.
- “How long have you worked there?” Fast answer.
- “Why do you overcharge?” POW!
That’s how the rhythm trap works. When you force yourself
to pause for a split second even before you give your name, the
adversary soon senses that you’re on to the game. In a legal pro-
ceeding, the pause gives your attorney a chance to object before
you’ve blurted out an answer, and in this training the pause lets
your mind act as its own attorney, “object,” and work out a good
response.
- The double-edged sword
This is the two-pronged question designed to help you make
an ass of yourself in public.
- “Was this a case of stupidity or insensitivity?”
- “Which candidate will do the most damage?”
Again, the intention is to prevent you from riding between the
horns of a dilemma without a saddle. Here, the only recourse is to
pause and reshape the question into what it would have been if the
adversary had played fair.
In the first case, the question might have been, “What hap-
pened?” So, “Let me explain what happened...” is a perfectly le-
gitimate beginning.
In the second question, a simultaneous translation into de-
cency would ask, “How do you size up the candidates?” A be-
ginning such as, “Each candidate has strengths and weaknesses,
just like any other human being...” will lead you away from
instantaneous disaster and an inadvertent step onto the land
mine.