FBI Negotiator Reveals The SECRET To Get ANYTHING You Want | Chris Voss | Align Podcast #555

Align Podcast

Aaron Alexander

Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.8 • 923 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Everything in life is a negotiation. And no one knows this better than Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator who led many high-risk cases. Chris is the CEO of the Black Swan Group and author of the national bestseller Never Split the Difference, where he weaves lessons from his 24-year career with the FBI into practical strategies that help people negotiate like professionals. In this episode of the Align Podcast, Chris Voss shares powerful tools for navigating high-stakes situations - from tense hostage standoffs to everyday conversations. He reveals the FBI’s best techniques for labeling emotions, building trust quickly, and staying calm under pressure. Alongside shocking stories from his career, Chris offers practical strategies anyone can use to navigate conflict, influence others, and create genuine connection. OUR GUEST Chris is a former Lead FBI Negotiator and dynamic speaker who debunks the biggest myths of negotiation. Chris engages all groups with captivating stories, insights, useful tips for business and everyday life, and interactive audience participation. Chris has lectured on negotiation at business schools across the country and has been seen on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and Forbes. Chris’s Keynotes are based on his book Never Split The Difference©. CHRIS VOSS 🐤 X ▶ https://x.com/VossNegotiation 📘 FB ▶ https://www.facebook.com/ChrisVossNegotiation 🔷 LI ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophervoss/ 📸 IG ▶ https://www.instagram.com/thefbinegotiator/?hl=en BLACK SWAN COMMUNITY ▶️ YT ▶ https://www.youtube.com/c/Blackswanltd1 🐤 X ▶ https://x.com/BlackSwanGrp 📘 FB ▶ https://www.facebook.com/BlackSwanLTD 🔷 LI ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-black-swan-group/ AARON ALEXANDER 📸 IG ▶ https://www.instagram.com/aaronalexander/ 🤳 TIKTOK ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@alignmethod 👉 SUBSCRIBE ▶ https://www.youtube.com/@AlignPodcast?sub_confirmation=1 🌐 WEBSITE ▶ https://www.alignpodcast.com ABOUT Aaron Alexander is a pioneering manual therapist and movement coach with over 5 years experience. He is the founder and creator of The Align Method, author of The Align Method book, and host of The Align Podcast which has ranked #1 in Nutrition on Apple Podcasts. Aaron has worked with some of the world’s greatest professional athletes, performers, and celebrities to help relieve pain, improve strength, better flexibility, and ease the mind and body. On this channel, Aaron interviews renowned experts in a range of fields focused on improving the mind and body. This mind and body podcast will teach you all that you need to know to become the healthiest version of yourself by integrating simplified ancient techniques and the foundational principles of The Align Method to strengthen your body, balance the mind, and activate healing systems in daily life. The mission? To be the best personal growth podcast about healthy habits, redefine functional movement, and make fitness who you are; not what you do. TOPICS 1. FBI hostage negotiation principles 2. Labeling emotions 3. How to build trust 4. How to influence people 5. How to stay calm under pressure 6. Negotiation tactics SPONSORSWear the Frequency⚡Intentionally wearing One Golden Thread — High-frequency threads for rebels with soul. Ethically hand-crafted from regenerative Tree Fiber. Not just clothing — A Lovestyle. 🔥Get 20% off with code ALIGN → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Chris Voss, thank you for being here, man.
0:02.0	Thank you for making time.
0:03.0	Aaron, happy to be.
0:05.0	Thanks.
0:06.0	What do you know about negotiation,
0:09.0	particular, say in a situation, say a hostage situation.
0:14.0	What do you know about how to be most effective in a situation like that now
0:19.0	that you did not know when you were in the midst of your career, if anything? Nick, what I know now a little bit more is questions
0:27.9	of design, the what and our questions, which are really powerful, are not designed to get answers
0:32.5	that designed to really trigger thoughts. And if you really want to explore what's going on, it's almost exclusively
0:39.2	going to be two labels and mirrors. And I thought, well, it was in a hostage negotiation. I thought
0:47.1	the most powerful aspects were the what and how questions principally. And I didn't really realize
0:52.9	how important and flexible labels in particular are.
0:57.0	And like when I left the FBI and we were trying to decide we, it was potentially my son,
1:02.0	Brandon and I, how to adapt the skills into the business world, we thought the labeling seems
1:08.0	like sounds like it looks like it was almost a throwaway and now it's a
1:13.6	it's an essential cornerstone that's if you're good at labeling you probably you get through
1:18.5	an entire negotiation using that skill well by itself labeling of emotions in particular labeling
1:25.4	of the way that a person feels.
1:31.9	Yeah, you know, it started with motion labeling, and that, you know, in the Hotsonson negotiation, we called an emotional labeling, but we just dropped the motion off because
1:35.8	it's going to be dynamics.
1:37.2	It's going to be principally dynamics and many below the surface dynamics, for lack of a better term, is a way of looking at things
	...

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