Warmth and Competence

Original name

Original description

Audits a draft on Susan Fiske's two-axis model of social judgment — warmth (do I like and trust this person?) and competence (do I respect this person?) — and rewrites the lines that signal the wrong thing on either axis. Implements Kramon's hardest rule: "show competence AND warmth in a single sentence." Use when a draft reads cold-but-impressive (high competence, low warmth — the "consultant trap"), warm-but-unserious (high warmth, low competence — the "intern trap"), or flat on both. Triggers on "warmth," "competence," "too cold," "too eager," "not serious enough," "I sound like a consultant," "I sound like an intern," "first impression.