What do you think?
Rate this book
Skilled Negotiation: Winning Strategies Clearly Explained Easily Applied
A message from the author.
This is a different kind of book on negotiation skills.
To begin with, I am not interested in the self-aggrandizement that other books on negotiation generally succumb to. I have spent a lifetime in the deliberate study of negotiation practices and strategies and in applying what I have learned to improve my business and personal success. To improve my life.
In short, I know what I am talking about. But stories about how awesome I am do not teach you anything. And I don’t need the ego boost of telling you about my brilliance.
Second, I have written my book to be easily read and understood. I WANT to make this an easy read. There is no value in complexity for complexity’s sake. I am not trying to impress you with my writing skills, complex sentence structure, or vocabulary. I only want to impart what I have learned in a way that is most easily understood and applied by my readers. By you.
I am a negotiation evangelist.
My only goal is to make you a better negotiator. Because being a skilled negotiator matters.
Lastly, I wanted my book to be information-dense but still entertaining. Every chapter focuses on one (or sometimes more than one) effective negotiation strategy that works and includes one or two examples. I cover some fundamental negotiation strategies and also most of the commonly applied advanced techniques. But all are described in a way that allows you to easily understand and apply them.
I have spent thirty plus years of my life learning these lessons the hard way. My book is designed to save you the thirty years of struggle I have gone through.
But all of the above is a risk. In my NOT trying to impress you with my brilliance, and in simplifying my message so that the lessons appear pedestrian, I run the risk that you will think what I have written is of lesser value than other negotiation books.
So be it. This book is for those who want to dramatically improve their negotiation skills with the least effort. For those who want to improve their business and personal lives. If some people equate complexity and self-aggrandizement with knowledge, that is their failure. This book is not for them.
It is for you.
Enjoy the read.
This is a different kind of book on negotiation skills.
To begin with, I am not interested in the self-aggrandizement that other books on negotiation generally succumb to. I have spent a lifetime in the deliberate study of negotiation practices and strategies and in applying what I have learned to improve my business and personal success. To improve my life.
In short, I know what I am talking about. But stories about how awesome I am do not teach you anything. And I don’t need the ego boost of telling you about my brilliance.
Second, I have written my book to be easily read and understood. I WANT to make this an easy read. There is no value in complexity for complexity’s sake. I am not trying to impress you with my writing skills, complex sentence structure, or vocabulary. I only want to impart what I have learned in a way that is most easily understood and applied by my readers. By you.
I am a negotiation evangelist.
My only goal is to make you a better negotiator. Because being a skilled negotiator matters.
Lastly, I wanted my book to be information-dense but still entertaining. Every chapter focuses on one (or sometimes more than one) effective negotiation strategy that works and includes one or two examples. I cover some fundamental negotiation strategies and also most of the commonly applied advanced techniques. But all are described in a way that allows you to easily understand and apply them.
I have spent thirty plus years of my life learning these lessons the hard way. My book is designed to save you the thirty years of struggle I have gone through.
But all of the above is a risk. In my NOT trying to impress you with my brilliance, and in simplifying my message so that the lessons appear pedestrian, I run the risk that you will think what I have written is of lesser value than other negotiation books.
So be it. This book is for those who want to dramatically improve their negotiation skills with the least effort. For those who want to improve their business and personal lives. If some people equate complexity and self-aggrandizement with knowledge, that is their failure. This book is not for them.
It is for you.
Enjoy the read.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 7, 2019
3 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
James Johnson
658 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2026
I am always an eager reader of books regarding negotiation and behavioral economics. I bought this book after reading the author's very critical review of Chris Voss' best-seller, "Never Split the Difference" online. I didn't take too much issue with the criticisms, so I thought I'd read a book written by an author who claims to have studied this for thirty years.
First off, the fact that this book is self-published probably means something to most people, but to me it means there was no editor to correct basic errors, such as the misspelling of Vince Lombardi's name or simple syntax errors. I imagine the author also would have been urged to refine footnotes (which he admits upfront that he won't use properly) guiding the reader to "see here" (a hyperlink). That doesn't help me on a paper copy. Other footnotes guide the reader to do a Google search or "read about x on Wikipedia". I paid to read a book where the author had presumably collected the information to support his content. I would hope that it was primary source material. Lastly, if you are going to point people (liberally, I might add) to legendary works, like "Getting to Yes", do us the courtesy of a page number.
Regarding the content, I'll start with the obvious. The author admits in the text that he's not read Chris Voss's book, only to claim in the footnote that he has read it since first writing the book and is doubling down that Mr. Voss really means that one should never split the difference. First off, let me be clear, Mr. Johnson wrote a book claiming that he didn't like the title of a book that he hadn't bothered to read. Second, his footnote, however brief, is certainly disingenuous as the other book does not suggest that there are no scenarios in which to compromise.
With regard to the remaining content, it's a collection of superficial notes on negotiation, often drawing on principles that are well-described in other books on the subject. For example, the principles of mirroring, reciprocity, loss aversion, and others are very well-studied and other authors take the time and care to describe this work to support the topic. I suppose the author can be commended for keeping 200 pages' worth of notes on the subject over many years, but it didn't make me feel as though it was time well spent. Some chapters use great examples. Others leave one wanting for clarity.
I will say that I thought some of his humor funny, including some footnotes. Some of the examples to support certain concepts are going to serve the novice quite well.
I worked very hard to get through this book, wondering at one point, if the author was giving me conflicting advice about lying or being a jerk. There was one point where I suggests a little bit of willful deceit is useful. I don't think that promising things you aren't in a position to promise really makes much sense.
First off, the fact that this book is self-published probably means something to most people, but to me it means there was no editor to correct basic errors, such as the misspelling of Vince Lombardi's name or simple syntax errors. I imagine the author also would have been urged to refine footnotes (which he admits upfront that he won't use properly) guiding the reader to "see here" (a hyperlink). That doesn't help me on a paper copy. Other footnotes guide the reader to do a Google search or "read about x on Wikipedia". I paid to read a book where the author had presumably collected the information to support his content. I would hope that it was primary source material. Lastly, if you are going to point people (liberally, I might add) to legendary works, like "Getting to Yes", do us the courtesy of a page number.
Regarding the content, I'll start with the obvious. The author admits in the text that he's not read Chris Voss's book, only to claim in the footnote that he has read it since first writing the book and is doubling down that Mr. Voss really means that one should never split the difference. First off, let me be clear, Mr. Johnson wrote a book claiming that he didn't like the title of a book that he hadn't bothered to read. Second, his footnote, however brief, is certainly disingenuous as the other book does not suggest that there are no scenarios in which to compromise.
With regard to the remaining content, it's a collection of superficial notes on negotiation, often drawing on principles that are well-described in other books on the subject. For example, the principles of mirroring, reciprocity, loss aversion, and others are very well-studied and other authors take the time and care to describe this work to support the topic. I suppose the author can be commended for keeping 200 pages' worth of notes on the subject over many years, but it didn't make me feel as though it was time well spent. Some chapters use great examples. Others leave one wanting for clarity.
I will say that I thought some of his humor funny, including some footnotes. Some of the examples to support certain concepts are going to serve the novice quite well.
I worked very hard to get through this book, wondering at one point, if the author was giving me conflicting advice about lying or being a jerk. There was one point where I suggests a little bit of willful deceit is useful. I don't think that promising things you aren't in a position to promise really makes much sense.
October 7, 2019
Good casual read
The subject matter could easily become dry, but the author lets enough personality in to make it feel more conversational.
The author doesn’t position himself as the world expert, only as a person who’s had a lot of success, learned a lot from mistakes, and wants to make the world a little better by helping people build successful partnerships through negotiation.
According to the author, this book started as his personal notes and, though they’ve been expanded into book form, it’s retained that condensed feel.
I wouldn’t have minded a few more examples and anecdotes, but that may have made the book miss its target and becoming too long to breeze through. Want a college textbook? Look elsewhere.
Five stars for being exactly what it intends to be, and for having some good insights.
If it were an option I’d knock half a star off for the number-sequence example. It’s not clear why the specific numbers in the suggested alternate question came from. I don’t think it’s a great example and it stuck with me as forced. But I’ve even since applied the lesson to my advantage.
Basically that lesson was don’t assume that someone’s position won’t allow for what you seek. Ask for what you want first and let them correct you if necessary. I was asking for some additional work after an initial fixed-cost statement of work and noticed that something from the initial SoW hadn’t been done. I hadn’t cared about that aspect t initially, but it had since become relevant and I now needed a higher quality than the original quote might have implied. Rather than prompting the provider to up-charge for the higher quality I just asked for it to be completed to my new specifications under the initial lump sum, with the truly additional work being billed separately. They quickly agreed, and I avoided the mistake of giving them a written invitation to charge me more.
You could summarize that as “don’t be an idiot”, and the author would likely agree. But in seeking agreement we often give concessions without getting any benefit. If you want a book to point out these mistakes, this one is worth the time to read.
The subject matter could easily become dry, but the author lets enough personality in to make it feel more conversational.
The author doesn’t position himself as the world expert, only as a person who’s had a lot of success, learned a lot from mistakes, and wants to make the world a little better by helping people build successful partnerships through negotiation.
According to the author, this book started as his personal notes and, though they’ve been expanded into book form, it’s retained that condensed feel.
I wouldn’t have minded a few more examples and anecdotes, but that may have made the book miss its target and becoming too long to breeze through. Want a college textbook? Look elsewhere.
Five stars for being exactly what it intends to be, and for having some good insights.
If it were an option I’d knock half a star off for the number-sequence example. It’s not clear why the specific numbers in the suggested alternate question came from. I don’t think it’s a great example and it stuck with me as forced. But I’ve even since applied the lesson to my advantage.
Basically that lesson was don’t assume that someone’s position won’t allow for what you seek. Ask for what you want first and let them correct you if necessary. I was asking for some additional work after an initial fixed-cost statement of work and noticed that something from the initial SoW hadn’t been done. I hadn’t cared about that aspect t initially, but it had since become relevant and I now needed a higher quality than the original quote might have implied. Rather than prompting the provider to up-charge for the higher quality I just asked for it to be completed to my new specifications under the initial lump sum, with the truly additional work being billed separately. They quickly agreed, and I avoided the mistake of giving them a written invitation to charge me more.
You could summarize that as “don’t be an idiot”, and the author would likely agree. But in seeking agreement we often give concessions without getting any benefit. If you want a book to point out these mistakes, this one is worth the time to read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews