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Christopher Voss    

International Crisis & Negotiation Expert

Chris Voss is CEO of the Black Swan Group and Wall Street journal bestselling author of "Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It", which was named one of the seven best books on negotiation. He also authored "The Full Fee Agent: How to Stack the Odds in Your Favor as a Real Estate Professional. In 2008, he founded The Black Swan Group which specializes in solving business communication problems using hostage negotiation solutions. Voss has used his many years of experience in international crisis and high stakes negotiations as an FBI agent to develop a unique program and team that applies these globally proven techniques to the business world. Voss and his team have helped companies secure and close better deals, save money, and solve internal communication problems between senior management and employees.

Prior to 2008, Voss was the was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group. Before becoming the FBI lead international kidnapping negotiator, Voss served as the lead Crisis Negotiator for the New York City Division of the FBI. Voss was a member of the New York City Joint Terrorist Task Force for 14 years. He was the case agent on such cases as TERRSTOP (the Blind Sheikh Case – Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman), the TWA Flight 800 catastrophe and negotiated the surrender of the first hostage taker to give up in the Chase Manhattan bank robbery hostage taking.

During Voss’s 24-year tenure in the FBI, he was trained in the art of negotiation by not only the FBI but Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School. He is also a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and the FBI Agents Association Award for Distinguished and Exemplary Service.

Voss has taught business negotiation in the MBA program as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He has also taught business negotiation at Harvard University, guest lectured at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland and The Goethe School of Business in Frankfurt, Germany.

Voss has been featured in TIME, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Inc., Fast Company, Fortune, The Washington Post, SUCCESS Magazine, Squawk Box, CNN, ABC News, and more.

Speech Topics


Tactical Empathy: Negotiation Secrets from an FBI Negotiator

Inspired by his Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Never Split the Difference," FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss shares one of the most powerful tools for successful negotiation: tactical empathy. In this riveting program, he shares how empathizing with the ‘other side’ can lead to true collaboration and a win-win solution in business and in life.

Communication Skills & Strategies to Get What You Want

Former FBI lead hostage negotiator Chris Voss delivers high-powered communication skills and strategies in this motivational talk. A dynamic speaker, Voss debunks the myths of negotiation, sharing actionable takeaways and game-changing insights, inspiring audiences to approach negotiation conversations in an entirely new way and get more of what they want out of life.

News


'Daily Show' Uses A Real Hostage Negotiator To Reason With GOP
he brought in Christopher Voss, a 15-year veteran of the FBI who used to ... We'll let you guess whether Voss considers the GOP to be reasonable assailants.
Shutdown Crisis: We Need a Hostage Negotiator - The Daily Beast
Oct 6, 2013 ... “It actually reminds me of a prison siege,” says Christopher Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, as he surveys the dysfunctional ...

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