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Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Posted on the 25 April 2020 by Jitendra Vaswani @JitendraBlogger

Chris Voss MasterClass Review

Learning the art of negotiation is perhaps one of the toughest I can think of. "Negotiation" is universal and is something that is done in literally any field you can think of, the most common fields being business and in the field of crime investigations. It is the process of talking to the opposite party/rival about a conflicting subject of common interest and comes to a conclusion that is a "Win-Win" situation for all. It is different from the term "Compromising", where either of the parties has to taste the loss in the end.

Negotiation has many big and small variations, and even normal people do it in their day to day lives. Customers bargaining with roadside stall owners is also a form of negotiation. One a slightly larger scale, negotiation is usually a part of business deals during joint ventures. While in the field of crime investigation, it is a crucial part of the interrogation process. So, you can see how important negotiation is in the professional world and even in your normal day to day life.

If you ever thought of enhancing your negotiation skills on a professional level, then you should probably follow one of the most reputed and respected negotiation experts of the modern era, Chris Voss! He is not just any kind of negotiator. The man is so good at this art that he was hired professionally work as a hostage negotiator for the FBI. Cool isn't it? Now, what if I tell you that this same man has begun is own negotiation course with Masterclass.com? Would you be willing to take it?

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Since negotiation is a part and parcel of every person's life regardless of their personal and professional position, perhaps anyone will be benefitted from is an unconventional and interesting masterclass. Once you are through with this entire course, you will be better able to understand others and relate to them. Eventually, you will have a better and more stable mindset to connect with people and persuade them, which in normal circumstances would be a tricky thing to achieve.

Who is Chris Voss?

So, let's first begin with getting to know your negotiation coach!

Christopher Voss, or simply Chris Voss is an American businessman, author, and a prolific academician. He has ventured into many fields professionally, including being a former FBI hostage negotiator, the CEO of The Black Swan Group Ltd, and co-author of the book Never Split the Difference. On the academic front, Chris has worked with Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business as an adjunct professor and a lecturer at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Chris Voss has earned a reputation when the situations demand negotiation, particularly in difficult situations. Chris is a confident man and always knows what he is up to. He has worked as one of the top negotiators for the FBI for decades, having handled many critical cases and situations, including kidnapping and hostage negotiations as well. He was also a Bonafede member of New York´s Joint Terrorist Task Force for over a decade.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Is It Worth Trying?? (MUST READ)

Chris Voss Negotiation Masterclass Review

Chris Voss is finally here at masterclass to give you the chance to learn the subtle yet complicated art of negotiation so that you can nail any kind of deal, bargain or compromise situation like a pro, both on a personal and professional level.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

He has curated a nice and detailed course that contains huge amounts of cool principles and excellent advice from the expert himself.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)
Check our in-depth MasterClass review here:

Life is incomplete without a little negotiation!

The first section of Chris Voss's masterclass begins with him explaining that life is one long series of negotiations. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this review, Chris states the same thing. You are always in some kind of negotiation throughout the entire day! It involves little and big things in life, like if you are wanting someone to say yes or no to anything. Sometimes it applies to situations where somebody is trying to persuade you to say yes. These are times where you need to negotiate with the other person or people. So, the point is that absolutely anyone from anywhere and any walks of life can draw benefits from doing this masterclass!

Chris proceeds with this section start talking in detail about what people normally understand stereotypically about what negotiation actually is. Most people usually take it as a confrontation between two parties, which Chris explains isn't always true! He states that negotiation is more about collaboration than confrontation or compromising. It is about leveraging the situation after getting at what is driving someone in the discussion. Negotiation mostly involves understanding what elements makes the other party tick, so you can use those elements to drive things forward.

The Lesson Plan of Chris Voss masterclass

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Using mirroring to connect and extract information!

For those of you who don't know what it means, "Mirroring" is a certain kind of behavior in which one person unconsciously imitates another person's gestures, speech pattern, or attitude. It is something that many people are familiar with and often uses it in their daily life, commonly with people of a close company, like family and friends. Experts consider it to be a very effective way to extract more information.

Chris goes on to explain the role of mirroring in situations where you need more information from the other person while also showing them that you have heard them. This simple act allows you to draw them out of their comfort zone, so you begin building a connection with them. "Silence" is also a very powerful tool that often works in conjunction with mirroring. While mirroring makes the bonding quick, a little tinge of silence here and there so that you can provide time to the other party think and it also works as an easy way to draw them out.

Neutralizing negative emotions!

Any kind of negative aura or vibe in the surrounding can perpetually harm the flow of a potentially fruitful conversation! Thus, Chris Voss makes use of this section to talk deeply about labeling and how you can diffuse some of the negative aurae in the room by using it. Chris made this section really crisp by giving explaining that you can effectively reduce a person's anger while talking to him and simply saying "You seem angry" to them. This technique is no hit & trial stuff and has been scientifically proven to work.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Chris explains how amazing this simple tool is and demonstrates just the right way to use this through this video. Furthermore, he also proceeds to teach you how to label and leverage positive emotions in the right way.

Negotiation exercises

Chris is a professional academician and very experienced teacher, something which you will realize when you take this masterclass. To make sure you are getting a grasp of what he is teaching, he reinforces whatever he just taught you every step of the way. He is repetitive with many topics he feels you should lay more focus on and helps you to practice what you have just learned by providing an exercise.

Case studies and mock negotiations

You must be wondering, negotiations are often so sudden and dynamic, how can we simply learn and understand it through video lessons and lectures? Well, don't you worry about that, because Chris has that end covered as well? Chris uses several interesting case studies to demonstrate everything he is teaching here, just like most of the other expert instructors do on Masterclass.com. The case studies he includes in this section are as follows:

These are some of the popular cases that he has worked on as a negotiator, which was really fascinating to know about. It was a great learning tool for all viewers. What's even more amazing about these case studies is that they looked so authentic because Chris uses the original recordings in most of them. By this, he as a teacher was rested assured that his students get to hear exactly what each side said.

  • The Chase Manhattan bank robbery
  • The Jill Carroll hostage negotiation
  • The Dwight Watson Tractor Man case

Using your tone to power the negotiation!

Chris takes this section to a different level of understanding by demonstrating a mock negotiation, to ensure that this lesson effective for the viewers. He uses the following mock negotiations in this section:

The tone in which you talk to someone always affects the conversation. The impact could be both positive and negative, depending on the way you talk. Your tone can do many things to a conversation. Using the wrong intonation can sound like you are saying something bad to the person instead of seeking more information. Having a softer tone can also help you slow things down and make the other person feel more relaxed and draw him to cooperate with you.

  • Negotiating with a teenager
  • Negotiating with a rival successfully
  • A mock salary negotiation
  • Mock negotiation exercise: 60 seconds or she dies!
  • A mirroring and labelling demonstration
  • The way you say something is just as important as what you say
  • How you say certain things in any negotiation is important.
Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Since intonation is such an important aspect of negotiation, Chris displays three different tones of voice in this video along with the two kinds of inflection. Having an assertive tone during a negotiation usually turns out to be counterproductive in most cases.

Using digital communication to Negotiate!

Since digital communication technologies have developed so rapidly in the past decade, negotiations are often done successfully making use of this technology as well. Chris Voss also does cover some interesting aspects of negotiations using digital communication in this section, but somehow the things weren't really covered too much in detail. But whatever he did share about on this subject was practical.

Negotiating well in a business set up!

Chris moved to business negotiation after retiring from the FBI. Needless to say, he is doing pretty damn good there as well. This masterclass is all about the various techniques he teaches about negotiation, which include mirroring and labeling,

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

which can prove to be highly effective tools in business settings. He takes this section ahead by sharing some very specific techniques for handling business negotiation scenarios.

The role of speech patterns & body language!

Paying proper attention to every detail, including both physical and verbal is something you must always do to be an accomplished negotiator. Your learning skills and attitude should be adaptive and analogous to that of a sponge so that you can soak up valuable information from all possible sources whenever and wherever possible. You have to focus well, which is extremely vital because you will have to note the variations in the other person's tone of voice and body language so you can read between the lines of what they are telling you.

Chris Voss explains something known as the "7/38/55 rule", which you will be able to understand only when you go through this particular lesson. He, in fact, uses various quick examples that are easy to follow for anyone. He keeps dishing out examples like these throughout this course, which makes this masterclass so good and enjoyable.

Another very interesting part and my favorite portion of this section is to know what the person you talk to will look like when he/she is lying or is telling the truth. If you go through this section thoroughly, you will be easily able to spot when a person is lying!

Understanding the emotional drive of others!

Emotions often do get the better of you, no matter who you are or what you are professional. So, the same goes for the person you are negotiating with. If you want to successfully negotiate with someone, you should have the ability to look at things from their perspective as well.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Chris conducts this section to demonstrate how you can understand the things that drive the person you are negotiating with and what they fear. This principle is more powerful because when you are tapping into the fear of that person, you can be much more effective and productive with the conversation than usual. This does not threaten them in any way.

Making a good bargain!

Chris Voss is conducting this particular section to introduce you to the "Ackerman technique". This is a tried and tested approach used for bargaining in professional scenarios, but Chris shapes it with his additional tips and presents it to you in a way that you are able to use it in regular day to day scenarios as well, making it an even more powerful and productive tool for you.

Who should take this negotiation Masterclass?

Chris Voss MasterClass Reviews & Student Ratings

Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020: Pros & Cons (Why 9 Stars)

Conclusion! Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2020

The most convincing thing about Chris Voss's negotiation masterclass is that it is literally for everyone! You can benefit a lot from it if you want to become better at negotiating because every single aspect he teaches in his course can be applied to any kind of situation in life. The techniques and principles shared by Chris are all tactical, which if practiced and done the right way, will enable you to be able to be more productive during negotiation scenarios in both personal and professional spheres of life.

I would recommend you buy the Masterclass all-access pass, using which you will be able to access over 80 courses at a price of $180, with no additional charges. You will technically have to pay almost the same amount if you purchase just two separate masterclass courses. So, the all-access pass is a fantastic bargain and value for money deal!

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