In a hostage negotiation, Chris Voss and FBI negotiator  once needed to de-escalate a tense situation with a dangerous criminal holding people at gunpoint.

Rather than using authority or pressure, he used a calm, slow, downward-inflecting voice — what he calls “The Late-Night FM DJ Voice.”

It’s soothing, calm, and projects control without threat.

🎙️ Using this tone, he started with a simple line:

“I’m here to help. But I need you to tell me what’s really going on.”

The shift was immediate.

The man began to talk instead of shout. From there, Voss listened deeply and repeated the man’s words back using mirroring and tactical empathy — eventually getting the hostages released safely.

💡 How do we Apply in service: Service Isn’t Loud. It’s Listening with Presence.

In luxury service, you don’t always need more words.

You need the right tone, the appropriate pause, and the right emotional temperature.

Most high-end clients aren’t looking for scripts — they’re looking for someone who can read the room, enhance the expereience and tune into their energy.

Presence is the real persuasion

“Like Chris Voss taught FBI agents to use silence and tone to save lives, we teach teams to use presence and energy to win hearts. The principles are the same.

In both the situation the stakes are emotional, not tactical.”

Presence is the real persuasion.

Presence is your attention undivided, your intention is clean, and you are is in the present and now.

Presence is the art of being felt without needing to be seen.

It calms the chaos, earns trust in silence, and says, “You matter” without saying a word.

Serving with Soul® , are rolling out more for you to Connect, Convert, and Curate your client experiences.