Sales & Persuasion

Negotiation

Name: Never Split the Difference
Author: Chris Voss
ISBN: 0062407805

Tactical negotiation for high-stakes conversations

Win high-stakes negotiations using FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss's tactical empathy techniques. This skill equips your AI agent with labeling, mirroring, calibrated questions, and the Ackerman model for getting better outcomes in any conversation.

Never Split the Difference

by Chris Voss

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Install this skill

npx skills add wondelai/skills/negotiation

Key Concepts

What your agent learns

Tactical Empathy

Demonstrate understanding of the other side's perspective and emotions to build trust and influence.

Labeling & Mirroring

Use "It seems like..." labels and repeat the last 3 words to encourage the other side to elaborate.

Calibrated Questions

Ask "How" and "What" questions that guide the other side to solve your problems for you.

The Ackerman Model

A strategic 5-step bargaining process: 65%, 85%, 95%, 100% of target, using decreasing increments.

Getting to "That's Right"

The two most powerful words in negotiation — when the other side says this, a breakthrough follows.

About the Author

Chris Voss

Former FBI lead hostage negotiator

Chris Voss served as the FBI's lead international hostage negotiator for over two decades, handling cases from bank robberies to international kidnappings. He now teaches negotiation at Georgetown and USC.

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Example Prompts

Try these with the skill installed

Prepare a negotiation strategy for my enterprise contract renewal using negotiation skill

Contract negotiation

Write calibrated questions for a salary negotiation using negotiation skill

Career

Create a tactical empathy playbook for our sales team using negotiation skill

Sales training

Role-play a price negotiation and coach me through it using negotiation skill

Practice

Install Negotiation

Free, open-source, and ready in 30 seconds.