Chris Voss MasterClass Review 2024: Learn To Negotiate

My friend recommended a popular series, Money Heist, which I decided to watch and loved it. Hence I binge-watched the entire series in a single sitting. Yes, I completed it.

It was crazy how negotiation played a significant role in a heist in that series, and I wondered if I could build a skill like that and turn into a hostage negotiator jokingly.

Hence, I randomly googled any courses to build such a skill, but apparently, there was a legit course on learning negotiation by a former FBI hostage negotiator.

It blew my mind, and I instantly took the course and developed the skill right away.

In this article, you’ll get to learn everything about Chris Voss’s MasterClass, how effective the lessons are, who it is best suited to, the pricing, etc.

In the end, I have also answered the ultimate verdict. – “Is Chris Voss’s MasterClass worth it?”

An Overview of Chris Voss MasterClass:

Chris Voss knows his way of teaching about negotiation in his MasterClass. Moreover, you get to see insightful thinking ideas from his perspective, which was helpful.

Speaking of ideas, you also learn about tactical empathy and some common misconceptions of negotiation. Voss also talks about his experience as an FBI hostage negotiator, which is something to look at.

His MasterClass has 18 lessons to benefit from. The lessons have an average of 15 minutes of watch time each, which you can entirely complete within 3 hours.

There is also an exclusive community forum which is pretty much different from other community hubs in MasterClass. 

In Chris Voss’s MasterClass, he has made sure to leverage the community forum into an online negotiation play that any student in the course can perform.

Chris Voss MasterClass Lessons Reviewed (My Experience)

Chris Voss had made sure to break down what negotiation is and how you can use it effectively in his MasterClass. Now, let me quickly brief out all the best takeaways from his MasterClass and highlight them in easy understanding for you.

Are you ready? Let’s go.

1. Introduction to Negotiation

The introductory lesson was interesting where Chris Voss introduces his MasterClass by telling his students about how you are facing at least three to five negotiations every single day, knowing and unknowingly.

“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation.”

He also discusses all the common misconceptions of negotiations in general and gradually dwells into the philosophical aspect of negotiation, which was great.

There is an excellent tip shared by Chris Voss shared in Lesson 1, watch out!

2. Reflecting & Responding

Chris talks about some effectively challenging ways to respond during a negotiation talk. He also gives tips like getting information from others, building a good rapport, and listening properly to avoid missing important points.

“Conflict brings out truth, creativity, and resolution.”

He briefs about the emotions shared between two persons during a negotiation. 

The neutralization of negative emotion should be taken away and replaced with a positive approach, which I felt is a good idea to note down. 

NOTE: You also get to see Chris Voss use these tricks in his MasterClass as an act.

3. How to Deliver words

In Lesson 5-6, you learn when and how to deliver words in a specific negotiation.

“If you approach a negotiation thinking the other guy thinks like you, you are wrong. That's not empathy, that's a projection.”

Like, Chris suggests brilliant ways to use multiple tones and easily influence the other speaker’s approach. He also recommends spilling the truth without hurting.

He shows an exclusive recorded negotiation and uses it as a case study to analyze how negotiation actually works. This eased the learning in a much better way.

4. Noticing body language

It is evident that negotiation is not just about speaking or putting forth points. It also involves the speech pattern and body language of the negotiator. 

“The beauty of empathy is that it doesn’t demand that you agree with the other person’s ideas.”

Chris suggests spotting the truth before listening to the lie, which felt like a mind-blowing tip because if you know the truth firstly, you can control the lie easily.

He also recommends some technical questions that you can ask if you are in a state of illusion with no control over the negotiation. 

He claims that there is a lot of ways to walk out of a negotiation with a victory.

5. The power of “NO”

Chris talks about all the times you are subjected to a response of “NO” in a negotiation, which he claims is sometimes positive. 

“Negotiation is not an act of battle; it’s a process of discovery. The goal is to uncover as much information as possible."

This is slightly connected to the earlier lesson where he talked about “tactical empathy” in a situation. He tells his students to consider the other person’s perspective even if they disagree.

Following this lesson, there is a play on negotiation performed by Chris Voss.

6. The reality of negotiation

Now, Chris talks about how negotiation works in reality. I mean, he shares about the fears, disagreements, and exceptional cases, which is quite insightful.

“Another simple rule is, when you are verbally assaulted, do not counterattack. Instead, disarm your counterpart by asking a calibrated question.”

He discusses some practical techniques to tackle cases where you are losing in simple ways, like unplugging the fear battery and finishing the deal.

Molding a person’s thought process is an incredible skill, he adds. If you can control the other person’s mindset and glue them into your site, it’s a win-win situation.

7. Mock Negotiation by the end

There is a cinematic level role-play in Lesson 17, which happens to be one of the best negotiation plays I have seen in Chris Voss’s MasterClass.

“Psychotherapy research shows that when individuals feel listened to, they tend to listen to themselves more carefully and to openly evaluate and clarify their own thoughts and feelings.”

The situation is a robber is asking for a car within 60 seconds, or a hostage will die. Interesting, right? Chris Voss took a role, and a volunteer took the other.

It was exciting to witness it live in an online course where you see how a negotiation goes between a robber and a negotiator.

After the outstanding play, he ends his MasterClass with a motivational session.

Who is best suited for Chris Voss’s MasterClass?

Chris Voss has detailed everything you would like to know about negotiations and getting in terms with someone, be it a friend, a co-worker, or even your boss.

Hence I was able to figure out who is most likely recommended to take his MasterClass. I’d say:

• Business owners who would like to understand how negotiation works
• Anyone wanting to learn how to negotiate and build it as a skill properly
• People with zero experience in negotiating can also benefit from Chris Voss’s MasterClass because there are a lot of insightful techniques on negotiation

His MasterClass is actually beneficial in real-life situations and is not only constrained to entrepreneurs, bankers, or financial dealers. So, I would definitely recommend everyone to take Chris Voss’s MasterClass immediately.

What I feel can be improved in Chris Voss’s MasterClass?

Although I liked several things about Chris Voss’s MasterClass, I felt his course could improve a few things. They are:

Less detailing on negotiating

Some key points on initiating negotiation were missing. Though Chris explained how to negotiate, he did not fully cover all the aspects in-depth. 

In some cases, he simply skimmed through the titles, which was also not briefed. I mean, a few concepts were only mentioned with the name and not in detail.

Less real-life examples

The lessons were engaging, with incredible examples delivered by Chris Voss, but minimal, and few sections felt incomplete without those examples.

It would have been much better if there were more examples because, without the examples, it was constrained only to the theoretical aspect of the course.

Not so useful workbook

The workbook had very few pages which already gave me a hint of ineffectiveness, and I was right; it did not have any tasks, assignments, or even suggestions.

In other MasterClass courses, the breakdown of the entire course is explained in the workbook in a simplified format for easy understanding. Still, there was nothing like that in the workbook provided along with Chris Voss’s MasterClass.

Chris Voss MasterClass Review: Pros & Cons

Here are the pros & cons of Chris Voss’s MasterClass:

Pros

• Chris Voss is a leading authority, and you get to learn his negotiation techniques.
• The course covers various situations where you would need to negotiate.
• The video lessons are of high quality.
• The instructor breaks down his own negotiation case studies to teach you.

Cons

• The content available on this MasterClass is very thin.

What is the cost of Chris Voss’s MasterClass?

You might be wondering that the pricing is prohibitive, but there is an ultimate twist to the pricing plan that MasterClass offers. I found this only after taking the course.

Chris Voss’s MasterClass comes with a subscription plan, recalled as All-Access Pass, priced at $180/- per year, billed as $15/- per month, allowing users to take multiple courses simultaneously.

All the courses are handled by celebrities with professional expertise in each field like Ron Howard teaches directing, Herbie Hancock teaches jazz, and many more.

You can take as many courses as you want in various niches from writing to singing to cooking. There are 100+ courses on MasterClass on 10+ niches handled by different instructors.

Alongside Chris Voss’s MasterClass, I took up Hans Zimmer’s MasterClass to learn about film scoring. Likewise, you can do the same and make the best use of your MasterClass experience by taking several courses with the pass.

In MasterClass, there is also a 30-day refund policy which can be used risk-free.

Does Chris Voss’s MasterClass have unique content?

To be brutally honest, it was not unique at all.

Chris Voss’s MasterClass reflected one of his famous books with some added points from a few of his interviews. I feel this is a visual representation of his book.

Though the negotiation plays, insightful tips, and listing of techniques were helpful, it was not unique. I would say that Chris Voss’s MasterClass is a mere replacement.

His book has everything he has talked about in his MasterClass, but if you want to hear and understand the concept by teaching, you can take up Chris Voss’s MasterClass, which might help you better comprehend the techniques.

Conclusion: Chris Voss MasterClass Review (2024)

To straight up answer the verdict, I would say yes. Hear me out.

With the breakdown of beneficial techniques, real-life examples, negotiation role-plays, effective teaching, and insightful tips throughout the course, Chris Voss’s MasterClass felt like a perfect negotiation learning kit. 

Although a few downsides like an ineffective workbook and limited examples were present, other things about his MasterClass overlapped it.

The explanation of certain technical concepts with relevant examples was top-notch, but he missed only a few points out on detailed explanation. It was also a great experience learning negotiation from a former FI negotiator, Chris Voss. 

If you are done with his MasterClass and want to build more skills, you don’t have to pay a single penny extra because with the All-Access Pas; you can take 100+ courses in 10+ creative niches taught by incredible celebrities worldwide.

What are you waiting for? Take two more courses and have a productive month!

Frequently Asked Questions on Chriss Voss MasterClass