FBI agent Chris Voss reveals secrets of top negotiation strategies
Chris Voss is a former FBI agent known for serious conversations with criminals. Thanks to his emotional intelligence, he excelled as a negotiator. What techniques did he use?
21 June 2024 11:11
In her book, Polina Marinova Pompliano referred to Chris Voss, an FBI negotiator with 24 years of experience. The author highlighted that the former agent mastered the art of emotional intelligence, which was incredibly useful in his work.
Pompliano mentioned how, in 1993, Voss acted as a negotiator, speaking over the phone with one of the robbers who held employees of the Chase Manhattan Bank hostage in Brooklyn, New York. Three specific actions he took are excellent examples of the behaviour of a person with high emotional intelligence.
The FBI agent used them in his work as a negotiator. Three actions
Soothing voice
The first important factor, for example, during conversations with criminals in a threatening situation, is the appropriate intonation of the voice: soothing, declarative. We should also lower the tone. All this will trigger a neurochemical reaction in the interlocutor's brain, calming them down.
"Mirroring"
The next action is mirroring. This is an effective technique for gathering information and building relationships during the conversation.
"I had a really hard day because of all the stress I’m under. Response: The stress you’re under?) It’s a useful tool because it keeps you emotionally sober while allowing the other person to continue talking" explains Polina Marinova Pompliano, referring to the methods of the former FBI agent.
Pay attention to the other party's emotions
The third indicator of emotional intelligence is the so-called labelling of emotions. During conversations with robbers, the agent Voss mentioned guided them to express their emotions by using sentences like "It wasn’t your fault, was it?" and "You regret this happened, don’t you?"
One rule above all
The author of the book Hidden Genius pointed out that Chris Voss did something that most people cannot do: He truly listened to what the robbers had to say during negotiations with criminals.
As Polina Marinova Pompliano adds in the quoted excerpt of her book, posted on cnbc.com, the art of emotional intelligence can be helpful in everyday life, for example, during an argument with a partner or resolving a conflict with a co-worker.
