Chris Voss opens by presenting genuine tactical empathy — deeply understanding and acknowledging the other party's perspective and emotions — as essential for effective high-stakes negotiation, drawing on his extensive FBI hostage negotiation experience.

Why this tactical empathy emphasis distinguishes Voss's approach:

• Many negotiation frameworks emphasize purely rational analysis and positional bargaining, while Voss's extensive hostage negotiation experience demonstrates genuine tactical empathy as essential for navigating genuinely high-stakes negotiation situations
• This distinctive grounding in extreme, genuinely high-stakes negotiation experience provides credible foundation for principles applicable to less extreme but still significant negotiation contexts
• This opening establishes the book's foundational premise, motivating its subsequent detailed specific technique examination

This opening establishes the book's foundational premise regarding tactical empathy's essential role in effective negotiation, grounded in Voss's extensive FBI hostage negotiation experience.