Bored with his life in academia, George ‘Doc’ Thompson left his prestigious career and went on to teach a million police officers to ask questions first and shoot later.
Thompson was a judo black belt who ran a dojo. The father of a tactical communication style known as ‘verbal judo’, he wrote his first book on the subject in 1983 and became a successful law enforcement trainer.
Verbal Judo is a police tactic that teaches officers to talk before they shoot.
The 5 Steps of Verbal Judo:
- Ask (ethical appeal)
- Set context (reasonable appeal: explain policies and rules)
- Present options (reasonable appeal: what’s in it for them and what if they don’t)
- Confirm (practical appeal: “can I do or say anything to make you cooperate”)
- Act
The essence of Verbal Judo is to influence others to come around to your way of thinking and is best defined as a gentle yet powerful way of persuasion that helps us to avoid, resolve and manage resistance by using presence and words, whether to resolve conflict or to close a deal with a customer.
Verbal Judo teaches us how to listen and speak more effectively, by engaging people through empathy (the most powerful word in the English language) and to use proven strategies that allow us to successfully communicate our point of view and take the upper hand in most contacts, regardless of the kind of day people are having.
What differentiates Verbal Judo from other communication systems is that it offers practical solutions that work when people are under pressure. It provides technique and conditioned responses that have been extensively tested in the field. The Verbal Judo philosophy is that when you react, the event controls you, whilst when you respond, you are in control.
Participants in the Verbal Judo program will learn a new gentle approach to being in control of situations without creating stress, without frustration, and without continued conflict, whilst at all times treating everybody with dignity and respect, making sure that everybody wins!