In this video, I'll give a summary of Never Split the Difference and I'll share the top 10 negotiation tips from the book that you should know for your life and career.

Learning how negotiation works will help you in many areas of your life; not just when you are negotiating your salary or how much you'll buy a car for. 

Author Chris Voss has a 20+ year career in the FBI negotiating with the highest stakes. He is an expert in negotiation and I present the 10 most helpful negotiation tips in this video.

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Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Book Summary
1:54 - Tip 1
2:28 - Tip 2
2:52 - Tip 3
3:49 - Tip 4
4:27 - Tip 5
5:25 - Tip 6
6:02 - Tip 7
7:00 - Tip 8
7:37 - Tip 9
9:07 - Tip 10


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Never Split the Difference is a comprehensive guide on negotiation authored by Chris Voss who had a 20 plus year career in the FBI where he was the head international hostage negotiator.

To start this video off I'm going to give you a brief summary of the book, then I'm going to share the top 10 negotiation tips from Never Split the Difference that you all should know about.

What's up everybody, this is Brandon Hill and welcome back to my channel where we share content to help young professionals develop personally, professionally, and financially.

1 series of this channel is analyzing popular books and extracting the top takeaways from those books that you all should know about.

Be sure to check out my book reviews and analysis playlist for other books that we've covered.

The author of Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss, had an extensive career in the FBI where he was frequently put into situations with high stake negotiations.

Chris was the international hostage negotiator and he later wondered if his methods that he used in the FBI could be used in everyday negotiations as well.

In this book, Chris draws on his experience in the FBI to help distill principles and practices of negotiation that can help you disarm, redirect, and dismantle your counterpart in virtually any type of negotiation.

You'll learn counterintuitive tactics and strategies that can help you be more persuasive in your professional and your personal life.

The author really emphasizes emotional intelligence and he sees it as the differentiator that could give you an edge in any discussion.

If you want to read Never Split the Difference, I'll put a link in the description where you can find the book.

And If you'd like to listen to this book for free, I'll also put a link in the description to a 30-day free trial to Audible where you can get 1 free book if you sign up.

Tip number 1, make your soul and all-encompassing focus the other person and what they have to say.

Chris Voss talks about 1 of the main issues in negotiations is the fact that people don't listen attentively to each other.

They are only concerned about what they want, what they feel, and what they are going to say next.

To have more success in your negotiations, focus on the other person.

Listen to what they have to say and empathize with them.

Everyone universally just wants to be heard, understood, and accepted.

In any sort of negotiation, smile and be uplifting when you talk.

Make jokes here and there and focus on getting your counterpart in a good mood.

The book says that when people are in a positive frame of mind, they think more quickly and they're more willing to collaborate and problem solve, and they are less likely to fight and resist you.

Tip number 3, focus on clearing the barriers to agreement first.

Chris Voss says that the reasons why a counterpart won't make a deal with you are often more powerful than the reasons why they will make a deal with you.

Before entering a negotiation, take some time to think about the reasons why someone would not make an agreement with you.

For example, if you're going to ask your boss for a raise, the main barrier that prevents them from giving you that raise is that they don't know if the company could afford to pay you more.

You can think of arguments that you could bring to the table that'll help clear that barrier.

If you're asking for something like a $20, 000 raise, you could show how the work that you're going to produce is going to result in $50, 000 in extra profit.

So therefore, by keeping you and giving you that raise, they're still ahead by $30, 000, so they can't afford to give you that raise.

When you present this to your boss, you're going to show that that barrier that they had is not a real issue at all.

And this is the title on the book and it basically says that you shouldn't compromise on deals.

The traditional negotiation logic that's drilled into us at an early age is that we should split the difference.

If I want to buy something for $50, 000 and you want to sell it for $100, 000, if we just meet in the middle at $75, 000, both of us are happy, right?

Chris Voss says that The problem with this is that when you split the difference, it satisfies neither side.

He says that compromises can lead to a bad deal and you should just stay away from them.

A quote from the book says that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Tip number 5, When negotiating a price or a salary, let the other side make the first proposal.

If you're negotiating your salary, it's wise to let the other side go first because you may be surprised by what they offer.

The book shares this example of someone that was going to interview for this New York financial firm.

When it came time to talk about salary, this candidate demanded a $110, 000 a year salary simply because it was a 30% raise from his previous job.

It was only after he was hired that he realized that everyone else that starts in the program starts off at $125, 000 a year.

So he basically cut himself $15, 000 that he could have had and he should have just let them made the first offer because they probably would have just offered that amount.

So even if your salary demand that you have in mind is more attractive than what you have now, you should still let the other side go first because you never know what'll happen.

Tip 6, when you do talk numbers, use odd ones.

This tip basically says that if you do talk numbers, such as when you're negotiating a salary, you should use an odd number like $37, 263 instead of something like $37, 000 even.

When you come up with an exact number like this, it seems less like a number that you pulled out of thin air, and more like a number that you landed on with thoughtful calculation.

Odd numbers seem more immovable than round numbers, meaning that your counterpart will feel like they have less of a chance to negotiate you off of that number.

This rule was created by a UCLA psychology professor.

Through his studies, he found that only 7% of a message is based on the words, while 38% came from tone of voice, and 55% came from the speaker's body language and face.

With this in mind, during your negotiations, pay attention to tone of voice, body language, and the facial expressions that they're making.

Incongruence between your counterpart's words and their body language and tone could show that they're lying or that they're uncomfortable.

But either way, this message could give you an edge during a negotiation.

The author says that this is the reason why he'll often fly to great distances just to meet with somebody face to face, even if they could have just chatted over the phone.

He wants to pick up on all this extra communication that he couldn't have gotten if he was just speaking over the phone.

Negotiation tip number 8, prepare, prepare, prepare.

The book says that when the pressure is on, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to your highest level of preparation.

Before stepping into a negotiation, plan meticulously.

Think of what you'll say, the calibrated questions you're going to ask, and how you'll respond if 1 situation happens versus another.

You should know what you're going to say if someone agrees to your proposal, as well as what you'll say if they reject your proposal or if they give you a counteroffer.

Just don't think you could go into a negotiation and wing it.

The Ackerman model is an offer counteroffer method that's used in negotiation.

And there are a few steps to this process.

Imagine that you're going to buy a car that is $37, 000.

The maximum price that you're willing to pay is $35, 000.

The Ackerman model will help you structure what type of offers you're gonna make until you arrive at your final price.

So step 1, your first offer is going to be 65% of the amount you're willing to pay and 65% of $35, 000 is $22, 750.

If the car salesman objects to that amount, your next offer is going to be 85% of the maximum amount you're willing to pay.

And if the salesman objects again to that, your next offer is going to be 95% of the full amount you're willing to pay.

And if they object to that, you'll finally offer your 100% value and the car salesman will think that he squeezed you for all that he could get out of you.

And if he ends up saying yes to that, you still got the price that you want at $35, 000 and didn't pay the full asking price of $37, 000.

And that's the gist of the Ackerman Plan.

Just remember it's 65, 85, 95, and 100 percent.

The similarity principle states that someone is more likely to concede to another if they think they are culturally similar to them.

Social scientists have found that we trust people more when we see them as someone that's similar to us and familiar to us.

To implement this tip during your negotiations, You basically want to chat with your counterpart for a while to figure out what you have in common with them, and this will facilitate a bonding between you 2.

Find what interests them, find what makes them tick, and show them that you 2 have common ground.

The book says that this is why in many cultures, negotiators will spend large amounts of time just talking and building rapport before they even think about making offers.

Those are the top 10 negotiation tips from Never Split the Difference.

Check the description for a link to my blog post that gives a more in-depth review of the book than what we went over today.

And again, if you want to read Never Split the Difference, I'll put a link in the description for where you can find the book.

And if you want to listen to the book for free, there will also be a link to a 30 day free trial to Audible where you can get 1 free download when you sign up.

I hope you enjoyed this video and I'll get working on the next 1.


Speaker 0: Never Split the Difference is a comprehensive guide on negotiation authored by Chris Voss who had a 20 plus year career in the FBI where he was the head international hostage negotiator. To start this video off I'm going to give you a brief summary of the book, then I'm going to share the top 10 negotiation tips from Never Split the Difference that you all should know about. So let's get into it. What's up everybody, this is Brandon Hill and welcome back to my channel where we share content to help young professionals develop personally, professionally, and financially. 1 series of this channel is analyzing popular books and extracting the top takeaways from those books that you all should know about.

Be sure to check out my book reviews and analysis playlist for other books that we've covered. The author of Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss, had an extensive career in the FBI where he was frequently put into situations with high stake negotiations. Chris was the international hostage negotiator and he later wondered if his methods that he used in the FBI could be used in everyday negotiations as well. In this book, Chris draws on his experience in the FBI to help distill principles and practices of negotiation that can help you disarm, redirect, and dismantle your counterpart in virtually any type of negotiation. You'll learn counterintuitive tactics and strategies that can help you be more persuasive in your professional and your personal life.

The author really emphasizes emotional intelligence and he sees it as the differentiator that could give you an edge in any discussion. If you want to read Never Split the Difference, I'll put a link in the description where you can find the book. And If you'd like to listen to this book for free, I'll also put a link in the description to a 30-day free trial to Audible where you can get 1 free book if you sign up. Now let's get into the top 10 tips. Tip number 1, make your soul and all-encompassing focus the other person and what they have to say.

Chris Voss talks about 1 of the main issues in negotiations is the fact that people don't listen attentively to each other. They are only concerned about what they want, what they feel, and what they are going to say next. To have more success in your negotiations, focus on the other person. Listen to what they have to say and empathize with them. Everyone universally just wants to be heard, understood, and accepted.

Tip number 2, put a smile on your face. In any sort of negotiation, smile and be uplifting when you talk. Make jokes here and there and focus on getting your counterpart in a good mood. The book says that when people are in a positive frame of mind, they think more quickly and they're more willing to collaborate and problem solve, and they are less likely to fight and resist you. Tip number 3, focus on clearing the barriers to agreement first.

Chris Voss says that the reasons why a counterpart won't make a deal with you are often more powerful than the reasons why they will make a deal with you. Before entering a negotiation, take some time to think about the reasons why someone would not make an agreement with you. For example, if you're going to ask your boss for a raise, the main barrier that prevents them from giving you that raise is that they don't know if the company could afford to pay you more. You can think of arguments that you could bring to the table that'll help clear that barrier. If you're asking for something like a $20, 000 raise, you could show how the work that you're going to produce is going to result in $50, 000 in extra profit.

So therefore, by keeping you and giving you that raise, they're still ahead by $30, 000, so they can't afford to give you that raise. When you present this to your boss, you're going to show that that barrier that they had is not a real issue at all. Number 4, never split the difference. And this is the title on the book and it basically says that you shouldn't compromise on deals. The traditional negotiation logic that's drilled into us at an early age is that we should split the difference.

If I want to buy something for $50, 000 and you want to sell it for $100, 000, if we just meet in the middle at $75, 000, both of us are happy, right? Chris Voss says that The problem with this is that when you split the difference, it satisfies neither side. He says that compromises can lead to a bad deal and you should just stay away from them. A quote from the book says that no deal is better than a bad deal. Tip number 5, When negotiating a price or a salary, let the other side make the first proposal.

If you're negotiating your salary, it's wise to let the other side go first because you may be surprised by what they offer. The book shares this example of someone that was going to interview for this New York financial firm. When it came time to talk about salary, this candidate demanded a $110, 000 a year salary simply because it was a 30% raise from his previous job. It was only after he was hired that he realized that everyone else that starts in the program starts off at $125, 000 a year. So he basically cut himself $15, 000 that he could have had and he should have just let them made the first offer because they probably would have just offered that amount.

So even if your salary demand that you have in mind is more attractive than what you have now, you should still let the other side go first because you never know what'll happen. Tip 6, when you do talk numbers, use odd ones. This tip basically says that if you do talk numbers, such as when you're negotiating a salary, you should use an odd number like $37, 263 instead of something like $37, 000 even. When you come up with an exact number like this, it seems less like a number that you pulled out of thin air, and more like a number that you landed on with thoughtful calculation. Odd numbers seem more immovable than round numbers, meaning that your counterpart will feel like they have less of a chance to negotiate you off of that number.

Tip 7. Follow the 7, 38, 55% rule. This rule was created by a UCLA psychology professor. Through his studies, he found that only 7% of a message is based on the words, while 38% came from tone of voice, and 55% came from the speaker's body language and face. With this in mind, during your negotiations, pay attention to tone of voice, body language, and the facial expressions that they're making.

Incongruence between your counterpart's words and their body language and tone could show that they're lying or that they're uncomfortable. But either way, this message could give you an edge during a negotiation. The author says that this is the reason why he'll often fly to great distances just to meet with somebody face to face, even if they could have just chatted over the phone. He wants to pick up on all this extra communication that he couldn't have gotten if he was just speaking over the phone. Negotiation tip number 8, prepare, prepare, prepare.

The book says that when the pressure is on, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to your highest level of preparation. Before stepping into a negotiation, plan meticulously. Set your goals for the negotiation. Think of what you'll say, the calibrated questions you're going to ask, and how you'll respond if 1 situation happens versus another. You should know what you're going to say if someone agrees to your proposal, as well as what you'll say if they reject your proposal or if they give you a counteroffer.

Just don't think you could go into a negotiation and wing it. Tip number 9, prepare an Ackerman plan. The Ackerman model is an offer counteroffer method that's used in negotiation. And there are a few steps to this process. Imagine that you're going to buy a car that is $37, 000.

The maximum price that you're willing to pay is $35, 000. The Ackerman model will help you structure what type of offers you're gonna make until you arrive at your final price. So step 1, your first offer is going to be 65% of the amount you're willing to pay and 65% of $35, 000 is $22, 750. If the car salesman objects to that amount, your next offer is going to be 85% of the maximum amount you're willing to pay. And 85% of $35, 000 is $29, 750.

And if the salesman objects again to that, your next offer is going to be 95% of the full amount you're willing to pay. And this would be 33250 dollars. And if they object to that, you'll finally offer your 100% value and the car salesman will think that he squeezed you for all that he could get out of you. And if he ends up saying yes to that, you still got the price that you want at $35, 000 and didn't pay the full asking price of $37, 000. And that's the gist of the Ackerman Plan.

Just remember it's 65, 85, 95, and 100 percent. That's how you structure your offers. Tip 10. Exploit the similarity principle. The similarity principle states that someone is more likely to concede to another if they think they are culturally similar to them.

Social scientists have found that we trust people more when we see them as someone that's similar to us and familiar to us. To implement this tip during your negotiations, You basically want to chat with your counterpart for a while to figure out what you have in common with them, and this will facilitate a bonding between you 2. Find what interests them, find what makes them tick, and show them that you 2 have common ground. The book says that this is why in many cultures, negotiators will spend large amounts of time just talking and building rapport before they even think about making offers. Those are the top 10 negotiation tips from Never Split the Difference.

I highly recommend that you read it. Check the description for a link to my blog post that gives a more in-depth review of the book than what we went over today. And again, if you want to read Never Split the Difference, I'll put a link in the description for where you can find the book. And if you want to listen to the book for free, there will also be a link to a 30 day free trial to Audible where you can get 1 free download when you sign up. I hope you enjoyed this video and I'll get working on the next 1.

See you then!

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Never Split the Difference Summary: 10 Negotiation Tips