After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a kidnapping negotiator brought him face-to-face with bank robbers, gang leaders and terrorists. Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most – when people’s lives were at stake.

Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.

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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 7 minutes
Author	Chris Voss, Tahl Raz
Narrator	Michael Kramer
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	20 June 2019
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07T81G4QG
Best Sellers Rank	49 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Business Systems & Planning (Books) 1 in Forecasting & Strategic Planning 1 in Business Negotiating (Books)

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Top reviews from Australia

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I. K. Mcallister

With this book I could have been a brilliant salesman instead of the world's worst!

Reviewed in Australia on 8 August 2018

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This book is a life-changer, but has probably come too late for me. I don't expect to live much longer as I am nearly 80.
Dale Carnegie's book "How to win friends & Influence People" was a life-changer for me half a century ago. "Never Split The Difference" takes over where Dale Carnegie left off, with all the nuts and bolts described plainly. I got my first big job after reading Carnegie's book two and a half times, but usually failed other job interviews because there were multiple interviewers - each with their own desires. Never Split the Difference shows me exactly how I should have handled these interviews, and not only got the job, but got it for more than they expected to pay me. My family life would have been very different too if I had negotiated with them.

15 people found this helpful

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Peter Robertson

The best book on negotiation I’ve ever read

Reviewed in Australia on 19 April 2020

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I’ve been a real estate agent for over 25 years and done a heap of training on negotiation and the psychology of deal making. I’ve been very successful and am rated as one of the best in my industry, but Chris’s book has made me realise I’m an amateur. This guys is a master of his craft. So much to absorb and assimilate out of this book. I’m going to reread it many times. It’s the best book on negotiation I’ve ever read, BY FAR. 10/10. I’m recommending it to everyone in my circles.

2 people found this helpful

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Michael

Pretty insightful and confronting

Reviewed in Australia on 28 February 2019

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This is not a relaxing or particularly pleasant book to read but boy is it full of amazing and often, at least initially, uncomfortable concepts. It would have to be mandatory reading for anyone who is regularly involved in some form of negotiation which, as the author is quick to point out, is nearly everyone. It will make you think back to all your interactions in your entire life with a new perspective, and how you will approach all future ones.

3 people found this helpful

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Joshua Phillips

Immediately Effective Negotiation Strategies

Reviewed in Australia on 12 October 2018

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Chris Voss takes real world negotiation experience and turns it into practical strategies for negotiation. From the first chapter I have been able to apply the strategies and seen real effects in my negotiations.

I regularly deal with authorities who appear to have no vested interest in delivering the outcomes my clients are looking for. The tactics outlined in the book have been effective in unearthing the ‘Black Swans’ and helping to build stronger collaborative relationships with these negotiating counterparts while delivering better project outcomes.

I can not recommend this book enough and have already given several copies away.

3 people found this helpful

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Glen

Some good takeaways

Reviewed in Australia on 17 June 2020

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I got some very useful tips from the book. The takeaways are useful in a range of contexts. Unfortunately for his readers, Mr Voss is becoming overexposed and any advantages that the book confers will likely be "competed away" by others who have acquired the same toolset. Nevertheless, a worthwhile book - practical and effective.

One person found this helpful

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Justin Taylor

Extremely insightful with practical tips anyone can use

Reviewed in Australia on 4 August 2020

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While the author demonstrates his expertise in negotiation against the background of hostage-taking and other situation s that the FBI put him in, the information is extremely practical and can be put to use by anyone. If you are a dedicated fan of other negotiation books, you may find it confronting when some of the traditional ideas are challenged or rejected. But not without reason, so definitely add this to your reading list if you want to boost your own skillset.

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Robyn Elliott

Informative, readable, highly recommendable

Reviewed in Australia on 3 September 2020

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This is an excellent book for anyone looking to improve their capacity to influence other people. Chris Voss is engaging and informative in the way he uses his own experience to simply and clearly outline how we might make use of some very easy strategies to influence the outcome of negotiations with others. This is useful for anyone but my interest is in educating health professionals and I am recommending it to all who I supervise.

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Louise Fleming

Couldn't put it down!

Reviewed in Australia on 21 January 2021

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They say books choose you, and that's certainly the case here. Perhaps the heading caught my eye being an estate agent Splitting the difference is a phrase we often hear. I read the whole book in two days and felt the read was well worth it. I could relate to scenarios as well as see how I could benefit from using these techniques in my every day life not just an agent but as a partner, mother friend and so on.

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Top reviews from other countries

Grahame Cossum

Quite simply..it works.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2018

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I have read the book and watched a pile of Chris Voss Youtube videos.
This stuff works a treat if, and only if you are willing to put the methods into practice
on a daily basis. I am using it constantly every single day and it has produced amazing results.
As Chris Voss said "everything is a negotiation" and I would agree 100% it's just i've never noticed it before..but i do now.
Try it out for yourself, you will be surprised at how effective it is.
Just be prepared to put in the work required to learn a new skill. I really had to laugh at one of the negative reviews that implied they should
now be a skilled negotiator as if reading the book once worked like some sort of osmosis straight from Chris Voss.
Yeah...get real mate.

110 people found this helpful

Dr Tommy W

Bought book for £4.45. Negotiated a £46,000 discount a few months later, using techniques from the book. Good investment!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2018

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Great book. The stories Chris tells helps me to retain the concepts he's putting across and those concepts really do seem to work.

A couple of weeks after starting the book I negotiated a vendor at work from a 'list price' of about £68,000 for some equipment down to about £22,000*, partly by applying techniques from this book. Given that I spent £4.45 on the book, I think it's paid for itself by now.

*Obviously, having read the book my final offer was not a rounded number. Read it yourself, and you'll see what I mean.

86 people found this helpful

Grace

This helped to improve my relationship with my child

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2020

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I occasionally saw an interview with Chris Voss on YouTube and it mentioned this book, so I decided to get the book. It turned out this probably the best few quid I have spent in a very long time.

I am half way through the book, it took a while to read as I have decided to digest the techniques and to see how effective they are.

I have applied mirroring, showing empathy labelling techniques when I communicating with my daughter and I found I have stopped saying no to her automatically and the relationship has improved since.

42 people found this helpful

R. Barrass

Poor quality printing job. Disappointed.

Reviewed in Canada on 9 March 2020

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I’m enjoying the book but I’m dismayed by the poor quality of the book with some pages printed in a way that sentences are missing. I’ve never seen this before. See pictures.

The poor printing is not the whole book and only on a dozen pages. But still, very disappointing.

76 people found this helpful

Unknown

Negotiation is about co-axing not over coming, it is about co-opting and not defeating

Reviewed in India on 25 March 2019

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"Never Split the difference" is an outstanding book on how to negotiate, written by Mr. Chriss Voss an ex-FBI agent. having read a few books on negotiation, this is quite clearly the best. Mr. Voss is well qualified to write such a book given that he has negotiated over release of hostages in a number of parts of the world and on the other side his involvement with academic institutions such as Harvard.

Fundamental message of Mr. Voss is that human beings are emotional and irrational. Decision making is at the end of the say an emotional decision. The historical theories on negotiations are built on human beings rational and both the sides developing "win win" solutions. However, in a hostage crisis, it may not be possible to have a win win outcome. And therefore the title of the book -- never split the difference.

Mr. Voss's negotiation approach is roughly as follows:
1. Listen to the other party carefully. Mr. Voss believes that people wish to be understood and accepted and listening is the best way to do that.
2. Second thing that he emphasises is to spot the emotion in the other party, summarise/ paraphrase what the other person is saying. Summarising may not be by accepting what the other person is saying but by "labelling it". This way the counter party feels safe, understood and develops trust. This makes the other person more open to ideas.
3. People like autonomy and control. Allowing them to say no is often a great way to understand their reservations and also gives them the feeling that they are in control. Understanding their resistance can open up things.
4. Watch out for the phrase "That's right". Human beings like to be understood and positively affirmed. Once that happens, it is possible to get a positive breakthrough.
5. Importance of asking callibrative questions by using words such as "What/ When/ How/ Who". As the author says, this a way of saying no, without saying no and giving the other person the illusion of control.
6. Importance of the parties feeling that they have been accorded "Fair Treatment"
7. Anchoring proposals to get the desired outcome.

At the end, the author emphasises the importance of self control and emotional regulation and using the same tools that are needed in any relationship of understanding the other party, building trust and rapport, making the other party feel our empathy and then getting them to do things that we want them to do.

The real life examples make this a fun and engaging book to read. It is well written and easy to read. I give it my highest recommendation.

3.

59 people found this helpful

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