The Wharton professor who trained navy seals and strained Google to...
Scott Brooks@scotti_brooks
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Jul 08, 2026
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The Wharton professor who trained navy seals and strained Google to negotiate says power and logic get you 25% of the deal.
Here are 7 phrases that get the REST:
(Must Read Till End 🧵)
Here are 7 phrases that get the REST:
(Must Read Till End 🧵)
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1. "Help me see this the way you see it."
Diamond's whole system rests on one thing: the pictures in the other person's head. You can't move someone you don't understand.
Diamond's whole system rests on one thing: the pictures in the other person's head. You can't move someone you don't understand.
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Get their view first, before a word about your offer, and you're negotiating with reality instead of your guess of it.
Learn the pictures in their head before you pitch.
Learn the pictures in their head before you pitch.
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2. "It sounds like this really matters. Tell me why."
Diamond calls them emotional payments. People who are upset stop listening, so you address the feeling before the facts.
Diamond calls them emotional payments. People who are upset stop listening, so you address the feeling before the facts.
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Naming and valuing their emotion calms the room and reopens their ears.
Pay the emotion first, or the logic never lands.
Pay the emotion first, or the logic never lands.
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3. "Is it your goal to make this work for me too?"
This is framing to a standard. You hold them gently to their own stated values and let their commitment do the work.
This is framing to a standard. You hold them gently to their own stated values and let their commitment do the work.
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People will bend a lot to avoid contradicting who they say they are.
Frame to their standard. Let it pull them.
Frame to their standard. Let it pull them.
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4. "Could we start with just this one piece?"
Diamond preaches small steps. People refuse a giant leap but say yes to a first inch.
Diamond preaches small steps. People refuse a giant leap but say yes to a first inch.
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You break the deal into moves small enough to feel safe, and each yes makes the next one easier. Big asks trigger the no.
Take small steps. Each yes earns the next.
Take small steps. Each yes earns the next.
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5. "You've been more than fair, so let me ask..."
Valuing the other party, Diamond's most repeated move. Genuine appreciation, meant not faked, makes people want to give you more.
Valuing the other party, Diamond's most repeated move. Genuine appreciation, meant not faked, makes people want to give you more.
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He calls it the nice-guy discount. Warmth opens hands that pressure only closes.
Value them for real and they give you more.
Value them for real and they give you more.
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6. "Who else needs to be comfortable with this?"
Diamond says there are always at least three people in a negotiation, even when two are in the room.
Diamond says there are always at least three people in a negotiation, even when two are in the room.
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The hidden decider, a boss, a partner, a policy. You surface them early instead of losing the deal to a ghost you never addressed.
Find the third person who isn't in the room.
Find the third person who isn't in the room.
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7. "What would need to be true for this to work?"
Diamond turns negotiators into problem-solvers. Instead of trading demands, you ask them to help build the path to yes.
Diamond turns negotiators into problem-solvers. Instead of trading demands, you ask them to help build the path to yes.
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It flips them from opponent to collaborator, and people defend a solution they helped design.
Make them a problem-solver, not an opponent.
Make them a problem-solver, not an opponent.
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Read those back. Not one of them is a power play. They all come down to seeing the other person clearly and making them want to say yes, which the most sought-after teacher of it says is worth four times more than leverage ever was.
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That skill doesn't care what you're selling. It's the same on any call, for any offer.
If you've been doing it for years for a number someone else caps, you already own the rare part. You've just never aimed it at a room that pays what it's worth.
If you've been doing it for years for a number someone else caps, you already own the rare part. You've just never aimed it at a room that pays what it's worth.