ABSTRACT
Crisis talk informs training relevant for negotiators and other professionals dealing with people in conflict and crisis. This chapter summarizes our key findings, and this book, categorized under three themes that are all key to successful crisis negotiation: Making questions work; Choosing the right words; Scaffolding a resolution. We explain why asking questions is key to moving the negotiations forwards. Designing an effective question means having a finely tuned question format and knowing the type of constraint it places on the recipient. For example, it is not a simple fact that “yes/no” questions are closed-ended questions that generate one-word answers. They can lead to one-word answers, but that is usually not the case in conversations. A second theme focuses on choosing the right words. We ask what happens when a person in crisis builds a wall of continued resistance. Is there a right word or phrase to convince a person in crisis to choose life? Talk is the bedrock of social life, and we show how coming off as having genuine intentions is built-in and through talk. Finally, we review scaffolding a resolution. At the core of what makes negotiations work effectively is the ability to shift focus onto the other party, who will be making their decisions on their own behalf. This process is managed turn by turn: every turn, and every word, matters in the work that crisis professionals do.
