Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

Chris Voss · Tahl Raz

May 2016 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

A former international hostage negotiator for the FBI offers a new, field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations—whether in the boardroom or at home.

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles—counterintuitive tactics and strategies—you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life.

Life is a series of negotiations you should be prepared for: buying a car, negotiating a salary, buying a home, renegotiating rent, deliberating with your partner. Taking emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any discussion.

Ratings and reviews

Chris Voss lays out how to gain a competitive edge in negotiation, sales, and even interpersonal relationships. His tangible, First-Person narration conveys the concepts in intimate detail.

This book has some fantastic FBI stories, I couldn't put it down. It was also filled with helpful advice and lessons on how to make progress in your career, business and life.

Fun book to read, even if you're not interested in negotiation strategies or techniques. All the the cases in the book makes things seem a bit easier than actual situations, and I think it's worth noting the most important thing is still probably practice in live situations... Don't expect to pick up this book, finish it, and start doing hostage negotiations.

About the author

Chris Voss is one of the preeminent practitioners and professors of negotiation skills in the world. He is the founder and principal of The Black Swan Group, a consulting firm that provides training and advises Fortune 500 companies through complex negotiations. He currently teaches at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and has lectured at other leading universities, including Harvard Law School, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Tahl Raz uncovers big ideas and great stories that ignite change and growth in people and organizations. He is an award-winning journalist and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Never Eat Alone. When not researching or writing, he coaches executives, lectures widely on the forces transforming the new world of work, and serves as an editorial consultant for several national firms. He invites readers to e-mail him at [e-mail] and to visit his website at www.tahlraz.com.