Chris Voss on Mastering Tone and Inflection in Negotiations

According to former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, “Your voice alone can be such an art. When I was teaching hostage negotiation, I knew a hostage negotiator might not even say the right things—but if they had a great voice, we were probably going to be all right.”

When you’re mindful and deliberate with your voice, you can convey deference, curiosity, and collaboration through your tone rather than your content. You can encourage the listener to feel comfortable and willing to listen and work with you—it’s the key to effective problem-solving and conflict resolution with better outcomes, at the car dealership, or in a salary negotiation for a new job offer or higher salary.

Ready to take your negotiation skills to the next level? Whether you’re a business mogul, a real estate agent, or a parent, here are Chris’s negotiation tips and strategies for making the psychology of negotiation work to your advantage in the real world:

1. 1. Take advantage of mirror neurons. Chris explains that mirror neurons are an involuntary response in human beings, a social psychology principle in which a listener will unconsciously mirror the speaker’s energy—for instance, if the speaker is angry, the listener will get angry, too. Use mirror neurons in your negotiation strategies to help guide your listener to the desired emotion and give you the upper hand. “If I use the late-night FM DJ voice,” Chris says, speaking in a smooth, low tone, “I’ve hit your mirror neurons, and I’ve slowed your brain down”—and this sort of tone is much more effective at helping someone calm down and process information, rather than telling them to calm down or yelling at them.
2. 2. Ditch the assertive voice. Chris describes the assertive voice as declarative, straight up, and delivered like a punch in the nose. Even if the speaker thinks they are doing the listener a favor by being blunt and honest in their negotiation tactics, “the assertive’s tone of voice is always counterproductive,” Chris says. Extending the first offer or a counteroffer with a blunt, assertive voice can backfire. Your listener may respond with defensiveness, and you may not get the negotiation outcome you desire.
3. 3. Use a playful tone. The playful voice is a bearer of truths delivered gently and is an experienced negotiator’s best alternative to the assertive voice. The playful tone is key because it promotes collaboration, mutual gains, common ground, and a give-and-take attitude. “You want to keep people in a positive frame of mind,” says Chris. The playful should be your go-to voice in negotiations, and Chris says you should use it approximately 80 percent of the time.
4. 4. Sprinkle in the late-night FM DJ voice. The late-night FM DJ voice is straightforward with a soothing, warm, downward lilt. It’s best employed when trying to relax and calm the listener, and Chris says good negotiators use it approximately 10 to 20 percent of the time.
5. 5. Use an analyst tone sparingly. Like the late-night DJ voice, the analyst voice is downward-lilting and smooth, but it lacks all of the DJ voice’s warmth. Chris says you should only employ the analyst tone as a negotiating skill to establish the core concerns of the negotiation that are immovable. While it’s suitable for laying down the law on the bargaining table, the trade-off is that “it leaves the other side cold,” Chris explains. This tone evokes a take-it-or-leave-it mentality and negative emotions and can cut short an effective negotiation or prevent it from going your way.
6. 6. Master the two inflections. You should also master Chris’s two essential inflections for your negotiation training: inquisitive and declarative. For the inquisitive inflection, speak with an upward inflection, as if you’re asking a question—it should convey genuine curiosity and interest in the other person’s point of view. It should be your default inflection for negotiation techniques. The declarative inflection speaks with a downward inflection, as if you’re stating a fact, and should be used sparingly in successful negotiation, only when you need to establish critical immovable points. Otherwise, it can shut down decision-making or problem-solving.

Learn more about negotiation strategies and communication skills from Career FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Perfect tactical empathy, develop intentional body language, and get better results every day with the MasterClass Annual Membership.