Book Notes: Never Split the Difference — Chris Voss

This week I listened to Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. Chris is an expert negotiator who, at one point held the highest-ranking international hostage negotiation role within the FBI. This book covers negotiation on a broad spectrum not just for hostage negotiations (I’m not sure how useful it would have been if it only intended to train hostage negotiators).

Here are my takeaways and notes from the book. These are not by any means a comprehensive summary of the book as I tend to only walk away with a few pieces of information that most stick with me as helpful.

Listening

The first aspect that he pointed out is the importance of listening. Obviously, depending on the negotiation you’re in you may or may not have many ears to pick up what you’re missing, and you may or may not have the opportunity to brainstorm before responding. But he drives home the importance of listening.

I believe it was later on in the book, but he also brought up the importance of not letting your existing beliefs and experiences block your listening skills.

When we listen to the person on the other side of the table, it not only helps them to be heard (which helps them like you more) but it also allows us to understand what they are truly looking for as they will…