The Schedule

Week 1 – Introduction to Tactical Empathy

• Objective: Build awareness of the TE framework and its role in real estate conversations.

  • Day 1: What Tactical Empathy is (and isn’t) — why it matters more than scripts or persuasion.
• • Day 2: The 5 Principles of TE (Remove yourself as a threat, Cross the street, Make them feel understood, Help them think clearly, Empower their decision).
  • Day 3: The order of communication: Emotion → Logic → Decision.
  • Day 4: Why “guiding” beats “leading” — the psychology of autonomy and ownership.
  • Day 5: Role Play: General intro conversation (non-real estate example) → reflection on how TE changed the dynamic.

  Week 2 – Creating a Safe Space

  Objective: Master the foundation — removing yourself as a threat, emptying your bucket, and genuine curiosity.

  • Day 1: Safe space defined: What happens to the brain when someone feels threatened.
  • Day 2: Emptying your bucket: Detachment from outcome.
  • Day 3: Coming from genuine curiosity (vs. “pretend curiosity”).
  • Day 4: Voices, tone, and pacing — how you sound determines if they feel safe.
  • Day 5: Role Play: “Safe space openers” → practicing introductions, discovery, and tension-reduction in real estate scenarios.

  Week 3 – Crossing the Street

  Objective: Build the muscle of perspective-taking and seeing the world through their eyes.

  • Day 1: What “crossing the street” means — understanding their fears, goals, and pressures.
  • Day 2: Labeling™ negatives — defusing emotions before they take over.
  • Day 3: Avoiding the “urge to correct” (Negotiation Gravity Law #1).
  • Day 4: Practicing perspective in common client objections (“We don’t have to sell,” “We’re not in a rush”).
  • Day 5: Role Play: Objection practice → agents articulate the client’s perspective until they hear “That’s right.”

  Week 4 – Making People Feel Understood

  Objective: Develop mastery in listening, summarizing, and mirroring to trigger “That’s right.”

  • Day 1: The power of “That’s right” — the neurological relief of being understood.
  • Day 2: Mirroring and summaries — tools to show you understand without adding your agenda.
  • Day 3: Dynamic silence — letting them fill the gap.
  • Day 4: Practicing empathetic summaries: articulating emotions + facts.
  • Day 5: Role Play: Full client scenario → work until client says “That’s right.”

  Week 5 – Helping Them Think More Clearly

  Objective: Move beyond empathy to clarity — laying out options, asking calibrated questions, removing emotional fog.

  • Day 1: Emotion → Logic → Decision — why clarity only comes after emotional release.
  • Day 2: Calibrated questions and no-oriented questions (e.g., “What happens if…?”).
  • Day 3: Laying out the landscape — defining reality without making them feel wrong.
  • Day 4: Defusing smokescreens (leasing, not in a rush, etc.).
  • Day 5: Role Play: Pricing conversation — guiding sellers to clear thinking without convincing.

  Week 6 – Empowering People to Make a Decision

  Objective: Put it all together — guiding (not leading) clients to make their best decision while owning the outcome.

  • Day 1: The psychology of autonomy — why ownership matters in decision-making.
  • Day 2: Shifting responsibility appropriately (their decision, not yours).
  • Day 3: “What if…” and “How would you like me to proceed?” questions.
  • Day 4: Avoiding attachment to outcomes → full circle back to Emptying Your Bucket.
  • Day 5: Role Play: Full framework practice — simulate full discovery-to-decision real estate conversation.