A former FBI hostage negotiator's field manual: mirror, label, ask calibrated questions, and never, ever split the difference.
About the book
Chris Voss translates tactics from FBI hostage negotiation into a system for everyday high-stakes conversations, built on tactical empathy rather than the win-win compromise most negotiation books preach. Mirroring, labeling emotions, calibrated 'how' and 'what' questions, and the Ackerman method for anchoring price all show up as concrete, rehearsable moves rather than abstract principles. It's built for the moment the other side won't budge and 'meeting in the middle' isn't actually a good deal.
Best used for
—Preparing for a salary or vendor negotiation with a specific tactical plan
—Running an accusation audit before a difficult conversation to defuse it early
—Getting past a counterpart who won't move off their anchor price
“One of the best books I've read over the last few years. In my opinion, the title does NOT do it justice.”
— Mark, Goodreads
Install this skill
Run this command in your terminal. The skill will be available in all your Claude Code projects.