Negotiating doesn’t just take place in hostage situations or in big board rooms. You can end up in conversations exchanging the commodity of your time without even realizing you are in a negotiation. Listen on to learn how to be more aware of these interactions. 

Today’s guest is Chris Voss. During Chris’s 24 years of FBI experience, he was trained in the art of negotiation not only by the FBI but by Scotland Yard and Harvard Business School. He is the former FBI Lead International Kidnapping Negotiator. Chris is the author of the negotiating bestseller Never Split the Difference and is the founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group. Chris has taught business negotiation in the MBA programs and has been an adjunct professor at numerous schools of business. He has used his many years of experience to develop a unique program and team that applies these globally proven techniques to the business world.

Show Notes:

• [1:20] - Chris Voss shares his background and how he got into understanding negotiation skills.
• [2:38] - In his book, Chris presents strategies in specific actionable language.
• [4:20] - There are times when you are negotiating and you don’t know it.
• [6:22] - We often think that negotiations always include money, but time and implementation are also commodities.
• [7:16] - The second you want something, you are in a negotiation.
• [8:11] - Chris explains the results of experimenting with changing the yes questions to no questions.
• [10:08] - The skills in The Black Swan Method are neutral.
• [12:50] - If you have a bad feeling, proceed with caution. The more you question, the stronger your instinct will be.
• [14:31] - Chris Voss describes The Black Swan Method and its solid foundation of skills.
• [16:20] - Your gut instinct is probably pretty good. Listen to your feelings and think about using the skills to test your gut instinct.
• [18:30] - Your subconscious can process much more than your conscious mind.
• [20:30] - Chris Voss demonstrates how anger impacts your decisions.
• [22:05] - Strategic umbridge is when someone purposefully makes another person angry during negotiation.
• [25:01] - Dynamic silence is an appropriate response to bringing another’s emotions back down.
• [28:20] - Decision fatigue is something that needs to be factored into negotiation.
• [29:57] - What is the science behind responding to no-oriented questions?
• [32:32] - There is a better solution than splitting the difference.
• [35:02] - What is the craziest negotiation Chris was involved in?
• [36:01] - 20% of the business deals presented are fake opportunities.
• [38:57] - It is more impactful and profitable to have a relationship.
• [40:11] - Chris Voss describes an impossible to fulfill request in a hostage situation in the early 2000s.
• [41:01] - Stop using the term “pick your brain” when asking for something.
• [42:06] - It is important to show empathy.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

Links and Resources:

• Podcast Web Page
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• Black Swan Website
• Chris Voss on Twitter
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss