228. Negotiate Your Way to Success: Empathy, Mirroring, and Labeling

Be ready, stay grounded, and communicate clearly — no matter what’s at stake.

Communicating under pressure isn’t just a useful skill — it can be the difference between escalation and resolution. For Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator and CEO of The Black Swan Group, it’s a daily discipline built on empathy, self-regulation, and intentional listening. In this expanded conversation from our Spontaneous Speaking miniseries, Voss offers a rare window into the mindset and methods that helped him show up calm, focused, and adaptable when the pressure is sky-high.
“Emotional intelligence is an insane accelerator to outcomes,” Voss shares, explaining how empathy, tone, and timing can shift the direction of any conversation. He breaks down techniques like labeling and mirroring, explores how to use silence and word choice strategically, and explains why overthinking can be just as risky as acting too fast. From gut-level pattern recognition to tactical use of voice, Voss shows how communication becomes more impactful when we’re not trying to control — but to connect.
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Voss and host Matt Abrahams dive into how negotiation techniques developed for life-or-death situations can be applied far beyond them — offering powerful takeaways for anyone who needs to think clearly under pressure, stay agile in the moment, and communicate effectively when it matters most.

Episode Reference Links:

• Chris Voss
• Chris’s Book: Never Split the Difference
• Ep.197 Prep or Perish: Mastering In-the-Moment Communication (1 of 3)
• Ep.198 Pause and Effect: Mastering In-the-Moment Communication (2 of 3)
• Ep.199 Blunder Pressure: Mastering In-the-Moment Communication (3 of 3)
• Ep.203 No Script, No Problem: Final Secrets to Speaking Under Pressure (Bonus)

Connect:

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• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
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• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:28) - Path to Hostage Negotiation
• (03:20) - Power of Emotional Intelligence
• (04:38) - Staying Calm Under Pressure
• (05:48) - Mental Prep & Mindset
• (06:56) - Trusting Your Gut
• (07:36) - Avoiding Overthinking
• (08:39) - Flexibility in Negotiations
• (09:53) - Listen More, Talk Less
• (10:09) - Labeling & Mirroring
• (12:29) - Tone Shapes Impact
• (13:44) - The Final Three Questions
• (19:20) - Conclusion

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