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Chris Voss & The Black Swan Group - Negotiation Mastery Skills: Encouragers

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Author: Chris Voss & The Black Swan Group
Categories: Education Business
Tags: education, business
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 12:03 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Use encouragers, short verbal and physical signals such as "Yeah," "Uh-huh," "Okay, go on," and head nods, to keep the other person talking and feeling heard. Encouragers pay off because people want to know you are listening and attentive, and letting them talk gives them room to reach the deal themselves. The speaker frames them as a basic skill from the FBI's eight negotiation skills, which the FBI calls "minimal encouragers" and the Black Swan Group calls "encouragers."

Key Points

  • Encouragers are small sounds used while listening, such as "Yeah," "Uh-huh," and "Okay, go on," that signal attentiveness.
  • Accommodators tend to be naturally good at encouragers, while assertives and analysts are less adept because they want to talk or think.
  • Encouragers matter most on the phone, but they are useful in person too, since negotiation has often been described as the art of letting the other person have your way.
  • The head nod is the main physical encourager when the other person can see you, whether in person or on video.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: Use short verbal encouragers such as "Yeah," "Uh-huh," or "Okay, go on" while the other person talks, especially on the phone. When they can see you, nod your head while listening. Keep the other person talking rather than filling silence with your own talk.
  • The speaker says head nodding also helped him stay awake and listen better, and that the speaker tends to feel more engaged with a nodding listener.
  • In an anecdote from a Beirut meeting with a political party head, the speaker nodded through a conversation he could barely understand. The man afterward said he loved talking with him and asked him to stop by next time.
  • The speaker notes that the head nod has a side benefit of helping the listener focus, not just encouraging the speaker.

Bottom Line

Encouragers are a low-effort, basic skill that makes people feel heard and keeps them talking, so practice the small sounds and head nods until they become automatic.