Empathic Summary Planner

Build an active listening summary and emotional validation script before any negotiation, sales conversation, difficult conversation, conflict resolution, or persuasion attempt. Use this skill when you need to prepare a summary statement that triggers genuine agreement from a counterpart, create a listening script before a high-stakes conversation with an emotionally activated person, draft labels and paraphrasing language before a client call, build rapport with someone before making a request, prepare a stalled negotiation recovery plan using validation techniques, write an empathic opening before delivering difficult feedback, plan the listening sequence before a salary negotiation or sales discovery call, or generate a "that's right" trigger statement that signals real understanding — not just acknowledgment.

View on ClawhHubView on GitHub

Install

Claude CodeClawhHubnpxCursorCodexGemini CLI

1. Add marketplace

› /plugin marketplace add bookforge-ai/bookforge-skills

2. Install plugin

› /plugin install never-split-the-difference@bookforge-skills

3. Use the skill

› /empathic-summary-planner

CC-BY-SA · Open sourceGitHub

Source Book

Never Split the Difference

Chris Voss

More from Never Split the Difference

Negotiationhybrid

Accusation Audit Generator

Generate a preemptive objection audit and emotion-label bank before any high-stakes negotiation, difficult conversation, salary discussion, sales pitch, or conflict resolution. Use this skill when you need to defuse anticipated resistance before speaking, prepare labels for counterpart objections before a job offer negotiation, neutralize defensive reactions before presenting bad news, write preemptive acknowledgments before a pitch to a skeptical audience, prepare for a difficult performance review or client escalation, anticipate accusations before a contract renegotiation, build a delivery script for labeling counterpart frustrations, or create an accusation audit for a negotiation one-sheet.

+67%

Negotiationhybrid

Ackerman Bargaining Planner

Build a complete price-negotiation offer schedule using the Ackerman bargaining model. Use when someone asks "how do I negotiate a lower price?", "what should my opening offer be?", "how do I avoid splitting the difference?", "how do I structure my counter-offers so I don't give too much away?", or "how do I make my final offer feel credible?" Also use for: designing a salary negotiation offer sequence, structuring a vendor price reduction campaign, planning a real estate purchase offer ladder, deciding how far to push on a freelance rate, or building an offer schedule for any purchase or contract negotiation where you are trying to reach a specific target price. Produces a situation-specific ackerman-plan.md with your 4-stage offer sequence showing actual dollar amounts computed from your target price, scripted phrases for each stage, fairness-challenge responses, a noncash item list for the final offer, and anti-patterns to avoid. Works for any negotiation where you are the buyer (or the party making offers). Pair with calibrated-questions-planner (to generate questions to use between offers) and counterpart-style-profiler (to adapt delivery pace and tone).

+85%

Negotiationhybrid

Black Swan Discovery

Identify the hidden unknowns that will determine whether your negotiation succeeds or fails before you ever make an offer. Use when someone asks "why is my counterpart acting irrationally?", "why does this deal keep stalling for no apparent reason?", "what am I missing about this negotiation?", "how do I find out what the other side really wants?", or "why won't they just say yes when the deal is clearly good for them?" Also use for: diagnosing a stalled sales cycle where the prospect keeps deflecting, investigating why a candidate rejected an offer that seemed strong, uncovering hidden constraints before entering a high-stakes contract renegotiation, mapping leverage before a complex partnership discussion, or rebuilding a broken negotiation relationship. Produces a black-swan-report.md with a hypothesis map of unknown unknowns in all three categories (worldview mismatches, hidden constraints, hidden agendas), a leverage inventory across all three leverage types, and a prioritized bank of investigation questions to surface what you do not yet know. Pair with counterpart-style-profiler (to refine worldview hypotheses by type) and calibrated-questions-planner (to convert investigation questions into a deployment-ready set).

+66%

Negotiationhybrid

Calibrated Questions Planner

Generate a bank of open-ended strategic questions (how/what questions) for a negotiation, sales conversation, difficult discussion, or conflict situation. Use when someone asks "what questions should I ask in my negotiation?", "how do I get more information without seeming pushy?", "how do I find out who else is involved in this decision?", "what should I ask to understand their constraints?", or "how do I stop the other side from stonewalling me?" Also use for: designing interview questions that reveal unstated priorities, discovering hidden stakeholders who could kill a deal, identifying deal-breaking issues before they surface, uncovering the real decision-making process behind a stated position, or preparing questions for any high-stakes conversation where you need the other party to think and talk. Produces a situation-specific question bank organized by category (value-revealing, behind-the-table stakeholder, deal-killing issue), with follow-up label templates and deployment sequencing. Works for sales calls, job negotiations, vendor negotiations, partnership discussions, client discovery, conflict resolution, and any scenario where understanding the counterpart's full picture is critical. Pair with accusation-audit-generator (to defuse objections before asking) and commitment-verifier (to verify answers reveal real commitment).

+50%