Never Split the Difference

Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

By: Chris Voss, Tahl Raz

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

This international bestseller, with more than 5 million copies sold, offers a field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations—whether in the boardroom, in your community, or at home.

Life is a series of negotiations, and negotiation is at the heart of collaboration—whether you are a business executive, a salesperson, a parent , a community leader, or a spouse. As a former FBI hostage negotiator, Chris Voss gives you the tools to be effective in any situation: negotiating a business deal, buying (or selling) a car, negotiating a salary, acquiring a home, renegotiating rent, deliberating with your partner, or communicating with your children. Taking the power of persuasion, empathy, active listening, and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any difficult conversation or challenging situation. This book is a masterclass in influencing others, no matter the circumstances.

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, 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 distills the Voss method, revealing the skills that matter most when it comes to achieving your goals in both your professional and personal life.

Step-by-step, Voss show you how to:

• Establish Rapport
• Create Trust with Tactical Empathy
• Gain the Permission to Persuade
• Shape What Is Fair
• Calibrate Questions
• Transform Conflict into Collaboration
• Spot Liars
• Create Breakthroughs by Revealing the Unknown Unknowns

Never Split the Difference is your definitive source for defusing potential crises, winning people over, and achieving your goals at work and at home.

Finally.. Something New!

Would you consider the audio edition of Never Split the Difference to be better than the print version?

I chose the audio version due to to voice inflections. I will get the print version anyways.

What other book might you compare Never Split the Difference to and why?

Thinking Fast and Slow. I like new realistic reality vetted ideas, not people splitting hairs and writing a book about how they see things.

What does Michael Kramer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Voice inflections, you need that with negotiation.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I liked the entire book, great book, it just needs PDF companion. This was the first book out of hundreds I actually pre-ordered, so I figure the PDF is coming, and I just bought it too soon.

Any additional comments?

Buy it.

Very enjoyable

Chris Voss is a little full of himself, but does give entertaining advice peppered with lots of engaging stories about hostage situations and everyday negotiations. Many of the techniques -- mirroring, framing, open-ended questions are right out of the psychotherapy playbook and are designed to get information and develop an alliance with the counterpart to align on mutual goals. It is not clear to me that every negotiation is a hostage situation with a winner and a loser but this certainly adds to the repertoire. People should still read Getting to Yes.

Wow What a great book!!!

The negotiations strategies that Chris talks about in this book are superb... I’m becoming a better father negotiating with my two daughters and at work I just got me a $38K increase.

I highly recommend this book to all parents with Chris strategies shows you how to win the battle and overcome the generational gap with our kids.

To all businesses professionals who deal with employees pay plan, salespeople, or if you are a buyer for your corporation THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE IN AUDIO AND PAPER.

Thank you so much Chris for sharing your knowledge and wisdom in this book. This is the fourth time I listened to... Thank you!

Helpful book but tread lightly

There is a risk of treating every conversation as a terrorist negotiation. At times I have chosen not to use some of these techniques in conflict, rather, I made a decision to 'state my case'. This was in situations with people I perceived as friends.

Excellent info, great stories

I don't like this narrator, but I may be in the minority there. But this book is incredible. Great ideas, great stories, valuable and up-to-date.