Negotiation Advice from a FBI Hostage Negotiator
Chris Voss, a negotiation consultant and trainer and former FBI hostage negotiator recently did a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) to publicize the launch of his new book Never Split the Difference.
I’m Chris Voss. I’ve worked over 150 international kidnapping negotiations for the FBI. Now I provide negotiation training to Fortune 500 companies. My first book “Never Split The Difference” is out this week from HarperBusiness. from IAmA
The book immediately got my attention because I have long felt that the tough negotiations are where both parties are not rationally looking after their own self interest–in fact I long thought that someone who has done hostage negotiations would be the perfect teacher for the high emotion, hostile situations. Chris has participated in over 150 hostage negotiations. Needless to say the book was an immediate buy.
In his Reddit AMA, Chris referred to his NPR appearance A FBI Hostage Negotiator Buys a Car (embedded below). Worth a listen. Chris talks about his experience buying a car and how he used empathy and emotion to get a good deal. Adam Galinsky from Columbia talks about “nibbling” (little add-ons in negotiation) and Cathy Tinsley from Georgetown tells a story about negotiating to buy pumpkins for a Thanksgiving feast in Africa–talks about BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Settlement) and Fractionating (two concepts I learned from a class given by Dr. Victoria Medvec of Northwestern). Full disclosure, the veracity of Cathy Tinsley’s story have come under question.