When facing a workplace competitor, how to use words to influence the opponent's mentality and performance is part of workplace politics. Here are some ways to use words to discourage your opponent: 1. **Use open-ended questions**: Ask questions that cannot be easily answered, such as "How does your plan deal with potential problems that may arise?" or "How can you ensure that your approach is effective?" This can make the opponent feel uncertain and upset. 2. **Downplay the opponent's achievements**: Downplay the opponent's achievements without obviously belittling them, such as saying, "This is also an attempt." or "It's interesting, but I'm not sure if it's practical." 3. **Set unrealistic standards**: When discussing the opponent's plans or progress, mention some unrealistic standards or expectations, such as, "It would be better to complete this project within three days, so that the speed will be more effective." 4. **Raise questionable views**: When the opponent introduces his own insights or ideas, put forward the opposite view and show reasonable considerations, such as, "I understand your idea, but from another perspective, maybe there are other factors that need to be considered?" 5. **Use humor???opponent**: Appropriate use of humor can relieve tension and may temporarily make the opponent lose anxiety, but you need to be careful not to overdo it. 6. **Show uncertainty**: When expressing your own opinions, appropriately show uncertainty or hesitation, which can make your opponents feel that their claims are also possible and thus doubt them. 7. **Emphasis on challenges and difficulties**: When discussing your opponent's plans or goals, mention the challenges and difficulties that may be encountered, for example, "This project is indeed challenging. How do you plan to deal with those difficult problems?" It should be noted that it is very important to remain polite and professional when using these methods. Overly intense or unfair behavior may damage your reputation and relationships with colleagues.