Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
Written by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
Narrated by Michael Kramer
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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.
Editor's Note
Get to ‘no’ before ‘yes’…
As a former hostage negotiator for the FBI, Voss is a master at the art of negotiation. While you may never have to negotiate with someone’s life in the balance, his advice about tactical empathy applies to lower-stakes situations as well.
Chris Voss
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.
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Reviews for Never Split the Difference
3,235 ratings219 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Super Practical How-to on Negotiation. This book gives structure and technique that boosts your willingness to go in and get a wanted outcome.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perhaps one of THE best books I've listened to. I dont understand why more emphasis on the art of human interaction and negetiation is not taught young. Had I been working with these skills in my youth ... manuvering throughmy business life would have been much more fun and rewarding.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good book but there are a lot of non-business related negotiation stories.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I would have to say that this is one of the best books I have read about negotiating/sales. As a business owner, there are plenty of principles that I can put to use when negotiating with my clients or as a buyer trying to get the best price. I love the part about not seeing no as the end of a deal, but embracing a no as an opportunity to figure out what the client is looking for. Try to get to all the no's early. Great advice and an excellent read. Great anecdotes too!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chris voss and tahl raz did a great job on this one. There couldn't be a deeper understanding on this topic than by a practitioner with high stake situations to lead us down the narrow but interesting world of getting the 'thats right'. The principles remain ever more true in the world of business. Great work
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very useful techniques for everyone to learn. It would making dealing with each other more civilized & it gives one an edge in a negotiation. But ultimately one book is not going to get you there. These are techniques that have to be mastered over years & adapted in a fluid situation which all negotiations are.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book. A must read for everybody in business, although you wish not everybody does.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Must have book for anyone’s library. Used a technique as I was reading the book and it worked!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing book! Loved it. Very practical advice that just makes sense
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book! I’ve gotta read this over and over. It’s truly great
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/51. According to the author, a man who managed to escape by himself from an armed group was freed not as the result of the man himself knowing the jungle and his own efforts and capacity, not even a little, but only thanks to the gaining of time through the FBI technique. The technique was important, but it seems, according to this book, that the man who escaped alone had nothing to do with the "success of the operation"!!!
2. If the FBI gets involved in USA citizens being kidnapped and its technique "always" work (the author uses the word "always") why is it that 2 Americans kidnapped by the FARC in Colombia had to spend years in captivity?
3. The book says, several times, that the "counterpart" = the other part, ends up doing what one wants, while believing he or she is doing what he or she wants. If this is not manipulation (dark psychology) what it is?
4. The negotiation of the so called "free trade" agreement between my country and the USA ended in the prohibition of all Colombian farmers to sow natural seeds, now thay have to buy "certified seeds"... to the USA. Now we have to import seeds!!!!!!
Maybe the USA negotiators new these great techniques, but as the book finally says "with respect and dignity" manipulated the Colombian team into signing a nightmare agreement for the Colombian people.
These techniques are pure manipulation of the "counterpart".
5. Nonetheless, the book can help more honest people to avoid being manipulated by these "winners". - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5the audiobook is very inspiring and useful. I've learn a lot on this, will definitely recommend it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book on negotiations. I highly recommend this to everyone.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a superb book to learn about navigating conversations in any situation with empathy! I am definitely going to re-listen to this several times!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My first impression on this book was a little overrated, but when you go through each chapters, you’ll understand why it should be recommended. A lot of people, professional or not will learn and benefit on this. Kudos!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really insightful and worth it. will need to listen to it 2nd and 3rd time to full absorb and internalize the concepts and their usage
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very insightful and easy to listen to. The author did a great job reiterating points and offered examples and experiences. The narrator did a fantastic job. He used voice fluctuations and read clearly. Great choice.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Going back through this text a few times so that I can really internalize the information here. It has taken years for me to fully understand the value of social capital. This text does a great job of giving some specific teachable practices. They can be quickly applied. My daughter tells me now that I need to stop mirroring her. My colleagues don’t even see it coming.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Game-changer, this one! This is a life altering book!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it. Straight to the point style with clear, actionable takeaways right from the beginning.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very interesting and useful practical book... The narrator is exquisite... Some parts were just bragging and bla bla talk, but they are minimal and don't effect the huge value of the book
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really like this book.
The information mentioned are interesting and I hope I can use them in my life. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great story teller. Excellent pace and a super interesting content.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excelente Simple powerful and great examples on how to negotiate and influence others
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is an amazing book. The stories are wonderful to anchor you to concepts, and Chris has great examples that guide you through the negotiating process. This is a must read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quite insightful. The narrator is so rhythmic with the tone of the book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excelent!, great book , well written and useful , thanks
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5best book I have read this year you must read it
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A lot of what affects how much you enjoy these books is, again, how self aware you are or how much consideration you've given to how you talk to people and the best way to get what you want from others.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Never Split the difference is very impressive is an amazing book that everyone should read