Cooking has lost its allure for me. If I didn’t have a family, I’d probably avoid the kitchen at night except for a quick smoothie in order to keep working on creative projects I’m enthralled with. It’s hard to leave the library and stop the state of flow I’m in in order to come home and spend a few hours in the kitchen. There’s just so much I want to do, so much I want to learn, and so much I want to accomplish.
Tonight I decided to make a change that will actually cause me to look forward to my nightly dinner-making time – I bought a year-long subscription to MasterClass ($10 per month, so $120). I’ve been drooling over the previews for years, wanting to subscribe every time I’ve watched a class trailer. I realized it’s been so many years that yes, I would love it and use it constantly. It wouldn’t be wasted.
I used to love watching movies and having time to chill out. Not so anymore. I want to use every single hour to do the things I feel motivated to do. I don’t want to watch movies or news or listen to music. I want to learn! Constantly!
I grew up watching interview programs like Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show. I love learning about people and what makes them tick. I love learning from what they have learned. There’s so much I want to do, there are so many places I want to see, and there are so many lives I want to live.
If you feel similarly, I would highly recommend getting MasterClass. The interviews are filmed beautifully. It’s eye candy on top of being so interesting, and I find that the category I’m pulled to most right now is in the business/entrepreneur area. Though I also think I’m about to crank through many varying topics with zeal.
It’s taken me a long time to realize that this is my cookie dough right now. I thought I’d mention it in case you happen to realize it might be about to be yours too.
Click here to go to the website.
There are so many phenomenal options that I Googled “best MasterClass to watch” and up popped a blog post by a couple named Ryan and Alex. Here is their top 10 list:
- Chris Voss teaches the art of negotiation
- Dr. Jane Goodall teaches conservation
- Emily Morse teaches sex and communication
- Alice Waters teaches the art of home cooking
- Ron Finley teaches gardening
- Jessie Krebs teaches wilderness survival
- David Sedaris teaches storytelling and humor
- James Suckling teaches wine appreciation
- Kelly Wearstler teaches interior design
- Jimmy Chin teaches adventure photography
This is a review of their #1 pick: Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation
This is the best class on MasterClass. Many Reddit comments on the best MasterClass courses corroborate our number one ranking.
Voss’s MasterClass videos watched like a thriller, showing clips of Voss, who was a former FBI negotiator, as he bargained with bank robbers, gunmen, and even the Sunni insurgents who had kidnapped American journalist, Jill Carrol, in Iraq.
He talks you through, step-by-step, how he negotiated with the captors, and it was ground-breaking for us. He never asks “why” (people get defensive) but only asks “what” and “how” we all got into this situation.
He shares how he uses a “late-night FM DJ voice” to keep everyone calm while using his inflections strategically.
Voss also tells you when to play your trump card, and how to use that to get what you want, whether it’s a promotion, salary increase, or that used bike off Craigslist for $50.
His is a show that I want to rewatch, again and again, and after his MasterClass, we immediately read his book, Never Split the Difference.
How it made a difference:
Since this class made such an impact on us, we’ll give you a freebie: this is Voss’s price negotiation schedule.
Here’s how to negotiate a price:
Offer #1: Very apologetically offer 65% of the target price that you want to pay. Make them know in advance that you’re embarrassed even to tell them.
Rejected? Hem and haw and write numbers down on a piece of paper.Offer #2: Add 20% of the target price you want to pay to Offer #1.
Rejected? Moan and groan, and calculate more numbers.Offer #3: Add 10% of the target price you want to pay to Offer #2.
Rejected? Wring your hair and make a phone call.Offer #4: Add 5% of the target price you want to pay to Offer #3. This should now equal your target price.
Rejected? Continue employing tactical empathy, as each price increase is a real burden.Final Offer: Finish with an odd number, like you’ve counted every last penny to make it to $97.33. Throw in a non-monetary item to show how you’re utilizing all your resources.
In summary, Chris Voss’s MasterClass is definitely worth it! The skills we learned from these best MasterClass videos were a huge motivation to write this MasterClass review in the first place.
Chris Voss predicts that everyone has 4-7 negotiations a day. Turn these into collaborations and you’ll not only get to a better outcome but learn to increase your emotional intelligence along the way.
This is a review of their #2 pick: Jane Goodall Teaches Conservation
Having never listened to Jane Goodall speak before, I was immediately mesmerized by her calm, slow voice.
I also immediately watched her 2017 documentary, Jane, on Netflix and dressed up as her for Halloween (for real, I even pinned a chimpanzee balloon to my khaki shirt).
Dr. Goodall shares her conservation efforts around Gombe Stream National Park and how her activism has changed in recent years.
She has immense understanding and empathy and is so creative in how she opens communication between groups. Talk about an incredibly strong and inspiring woman.
The biggest epiphany for Ryan happened one night at dinner. While usually vegetarian, we went out to a fancy steakhouse, so he decided to indulge in a sirloin. It came out tough and overdone.
Ryan turned to me and said, “I feel bad that an animal had to die for this. It’s not a good meal, and it wasn’t worth it.”
After watching Jane Goodall that day, I knew what he meant, and he would have never said this before.
Overall, Jane Goodall’s MasterClass watched like a 30 lesson TedTalk and was fascinating, deep, and moving from start to finish.
This was one of the longer best MasterClass courses we watched, and it didn’t just inspire us, it made us think (and feel ashamed, sometimes).
How it made a difference:
In addition to the overdone steak incident, a “WWJD” (“what would Jane do”) phrase starting springing up at home, since she shared ways that we can change to help the earth, every day.
Our Jane Goodall MasterClass review: we highly, HIGHLY recommend this course. This MasterClass is worth it for everyone, especially kids who will make a huge difference in our world.
We weren’t particularly knowledgeable or interested in conservation, but we want to be good humans and environmentally friendly. Goodall talks about farming, transportation, medicine and drug testing on animals, and sustainability.
She also turns ideas on their heads about how to communicate between warring groups and understanding motivations. Jane Goodall’s MasterClass was a favorite.
This is a review of their #3 pick: Emily Morse Teaches Sex and Communication
Emily Morse’s MasterClass is a knockout. Few people talk openly about sexual health and wellness — even us, and we run a couple’s website!
In fact, our first article venturing into sex was inspired by Emily Morse’s MasterClass with our article, ‘How to Spice Up Your Marriage.’
First off, the MasterClass, Emily Morse Teaches Sex and Communication, is for everybody and every body, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Her major themes surround understanding the facts (such as only 20% of vulva-owners orgasm through penetrative sex) so you can start understanding how to take control of your own pleasure.
Emily Morse also covers topics like masturbation, consent, and kink, but the bulk of the course simply empowers you to make your own sexual destiny.
How it made a difference:
From learning how to (and not offensively and not embarrassingly) communicate your desires to your partner to methods on how to keep your desire alive (including toys and positions), this best MasterClass course is a must for every adult human being.
We’re not sure about you, but the sex education we undertook at our high schools was completely lacking (and, that’s typically the first, last, and only times a sex class is taken).
There was no discussion on how important sex can be to your health and relationship.
This is the class we wish we could have taken instead. It’s incredibly unique and actionable (no pun intended). We highly recommend the MasterClass, Emily Morse Teaches Sex and Communication.
Here is a list of their runners up:
11. Michael Pollan teaches intentional eating
12. James Clear teaches small habits that make a big impact on your life
13. Shea McGee teaches design a space you love *session*
14.Tan France teaches style for everyone
15. Jay Shetty navigating change
16. Gabriela Camara teaches Mexican cooking
17. Alexis Ohanian teaches building your start-up
18. Robert Reffkin teaches buying and selling real estate
19. Malcolm Gladwell teaches writing
20. Matthew Walker teaches the science of better sleep
21. John Kabat-Zin teaches mindfulness and meditation
22. Jocko Willink teaches critical leadership training
23. Wayne Gretzky teaches the athlete’s mindset
24. Esther Perel teaches relational intelligence
25. Mastering the Markets with noted investors
26. Corey Damen Jenkins teaches interior design
27. Joan Benoit Samuelson teaches the runner’s mindset
28. Bobbi Brown teaches makeup and beauty
29. Sara Blakely teaches self-made entrepreneurship
30. Apollonia Poilâne teaches bread baking
31. Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein teach advertising and creativity
32. Annie Leibovitz teaches photography
33. Gordon Ramsey teaches cooking 1
34. David Axelrod and Karl Rove teach campaign strategy and messaging
35. John Douglas teaches think like an FBI profiler
36. Crypto and the Blockchain with noted experts
37. Doris Kearns Goodwin teaches U.S. presidential history and leadership
38. Judd Apatow teaches comedy
39. Howard Schultz teaches business leadership
40. Jen Atkin teaches style your own hair for any occasion *session*
41. Indra Nooyi teaches leading with purpose
42. Frank Gehry teaches architecture
43. LeVar Burton teaches the power of storytelling
I am so excited about learning from all of these people, and the MANY more on the MasterClass site! I hope that you, too, feel energized by this on these long, dark, Northwest winter nights inside.
