đź“ť usncan Note: 10 Best Negotiation Books That Will Improve Your Skills
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Damali Peterman, left, is the author of “Be Who You Are to Get What You Want: A New Way to Negotiate for Anyone Who’s Ever Been Underestimated.” She joined Shazi Visram, founder of Healthynest and Happy Baby, center, and Piera Gelardi, executive creative director and co-founder of Refinery29, at the 2020 Embrace Ambition Summit.
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A good negotiator speaks calmly, effectively and confidently. These negotiation skills can help you resolve conflicts and achieve your desired outcomes — in business and in your personal life.
Developing these skills takes guidance and practice. Books on negotiation can introduce valuable approaches that can help you feel more confident, provide actionable strategies based on psychological analysis, and offer specific examples to make it easier to navigate sometimes difficult interactions.
This list of books about negotiation lays out top strategies for delivering great outcomes in any situation.
Top Negotiation Books
Negotiation is an important skill because it can defuse tense situations, help you get the solution you want, and benefit both sides in a disagreement. Just about everyone can learn from books on negotiation, including those who work in health care, law enforcement and education, in addition to helping us all resolve issues in our personal relationships.
Like most self-help books, negotiation books cover a range of subtopics, including psychological principles, solutions-oriented approaches, the art of listening, collaboration and personal empowerment. Indeed, most books on negotiation are essentially communication books.
These examples were selected based on the expertise and reputation of the authors, the works’ commercial success and the effectiveness of the techniques the authors employ.
10. Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life by Stuart Diamond (2012)
Pulitzer Prize-winner Stuart Diamond, a professor at The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, hit the New York Times bestseller list with Getting More, which outlines the benefits of using collaboration, emotional intelligence, perceptions and cultural diversity in negotiations instead of “old-school” power dynamics. Google uses this model to train its employees in negotiation.
This book is best for anyone seeking to use negotiation skills to meet their personal goals. Diamond’s Getting More is available from publisher Penguin Random House.
9. Transformative Negotiation: Strategies for Everyday Change and Equitable Futures by Sarah Federman (2023)
Recognized as a Porchlight Best Business Book Awards winner, Transformative Negotiation emphasizes equity in inclusive negotiation strategies. Federman, an associate professor of conflict resolution at the University of San Diego’s Kroc School of Peace Studies, employs real-world examples that her students raised in class, showing how our identities can affect people’s responses to us.
This book is best for anyone looking for inclusive negotiation advice. Federman’s Transformative Negotiation is available from University of California Press.
8. The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World by Michael Wheeler (2013)
The world has arguably grown more chaotic since this book was published more than a decade ago, making the strategies espoused by the author even more relevant. Michael Wheeler, a member of the highly respected Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, argues that you can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach and advocates for negotiation as exploration.
This book is best for those who chafe under rigid plans. Wheeler’s The Art of Negotiation is available from publisher Harvard Business Review.
7. Start with No…The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don’t Want You to Know by Jim Camp (2002)
Jim Camp heads a management and negotiation training firm, and he teaches people how to get what they want by taking advantage of the other party’s neediness and setting an agenda for every facet of the negotiation. Win-win never works, he argues, and you should always make the other side feel secure.
This book is best for those looking for great audiobooks about negotiation, as it’s only eight hours. Camp’s Start with No is available from publisher Penguin Random House.
6. Ask for More: 10 Questions to Negotiate Anything by Alexandra Carter (2020)
This Wall Street Journal bestseller argues that getting the answers you want to hear requires asking the right questions. Columbia Law School professor Alexandra Carter identifies those questions and explains how to use them at work and in your personal life. She also shows that the loudest voice in the room isn’t always the most effective.
This book is best for anyone looking for actionable negotiation guidance. Carter’s Ask for More is available from publisher Simon & Schuster.
5. Be Who You Are to Get What You Want: A New Way to Negotiate for Anyone Who’s Ever Been Underestimated by Damali Peterman (2025)
Originally published in 2024 as Negotiating While Black and reissued with a new title, this book speaks to anyone who has felt dismissed when they go after something. Damali Peterman is a lawyer and negotiator who draws on her own experience to address the role of bias in negotiations and how to overcome it.
This book is best for anyone who feels their opinions are ignored. Peterman’s Be Who You Are to Get What You Want is available from Penguin Random House.
4. Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People by G. Richard Shell (1999)
This book was revised and updated in 2019; it focuses on business negotiation. It explains why being yourself in negotiations is critical, and the author gives real-life examples from companies and celebrities. The new edition also includes a negotiation IQ test to help assess your strengths and weaknesses.
This book is ideal for those seeking to leverage negotiation to advance in business. Shell’s Bargaining for Advantage is available from publisher Random House.
3. Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever (2009)
Working from the premise that women lose out when they avoid negotiation, the authors of Women Don’t Ask argue that most women just need an action plan. The book offers tips on maximizing negotiating power, managing reactions and using collaboration to help each side get the things that are most important to them.
This book is best for women looking for step-by-step help with negotiations. Ask For It is available from Penguin Random House.
2. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce Patton (2011)
Bloomberg Businessweek praised the straightforward, common-sense approaches in Getting to Yes, which teaches you to focus on both sides’ interests instead of their positions. By working together and identifying creative ways to solve impasses, everyone gains, and that aids with problem-solving. The goal is a mutually beneficial deal for all.
This book is best for those who can see negotiating as a relational process. Fisher, Ury and Patton’s Getting to Yes is available from publisher Penguin Random House.
1. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz
Christopher Voss knows about high-stakes situations. As an FBI negotiator, he navigated the release of hostages whose lives depended on him. Voss emphasizes empathy and active listening as tools to foster collaboration. The book, co-written with the journalist Tahl Raz, has sold more than 5 million copies.
This book is best for those who enjoy high-stakes narratives in their self-help pursuits. Voss and Raz’s Never Split the Difference is available from publisher HarperCollins.
Bottom Line
These powerful books about negotiation can teach you how to get what you want and help you empathize with others by becoming a better listener. They’re educational and enjoyable, with lots of engaging real-life examples.
