How to negotiate with your young child as if your life depended on it

Negotiation at its core is about understanding human behaviour — and this applies whether you are dealing with a bank robber or a toddler

Ex-FBI negotiator, Chris Voss, uses a tactic he calls ‘mirrors’ — essentially repeating the last few words your child says. So if he or she screams ‘No! I hate that!’ you would say ‘Oh, you hate that?’ This demonstrates to your child that you are listening, and it encourages them to elaborate.

Former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss made headlines recently when he told the media: "If you can handle a desperate kidnapper, you can handle a five-year-old who refuses to eat their broccoli."

Voss, author of Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, didn’t mean you have to be an expert tactician with over two decades experience dealing with gang leaders and terrorists to manage relations with a small child whose favourite word is ‘no’.