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Recently, I've snagged a couple interesting titles off the Audible deal-of-the-day. This book popped up and the premise was just so interesting, I had to get it for a couple dollars.

Chris Voss, the author, was a lead FBI hostage negotiator and haggled with terrorists, kidnappers, and a host of other bad dudes for a lot of years. I had an initial concern that Chris would be authoritarian and a tad bit self-enamored when I bought the book. The only reason for this being that most "bargain-like-a-boss" books I've read have been that way. But I figured, you don't get to be the FBI's lead hostage negotiator because of a false sense of importance so I figured I'd give 'er a go. And I'm so glad I did.

This book appealed to me because I thought, "Hey, I can actually use this to negotiate with agitated patients." But holy moly, Miss Molly. You can use these techniques to smooth out rough conversations with a spouse or family member, ease a tense stand-off with your nine year old that doesn't want to go to bed, and use your super-secret-spy techniques on the vegetable vendor on the side of the road. It's nifty stuff.

In reality, the information here is golden. I wasn't flipping through pages thinking, "I should write the world's most basic book on communication too and make money off it." This was actually valuable and evidenced-based. So many of these techniques are things I either use with aggressive/agitated patients, or will start using! Some of it, I realized, I use a rendition of, but not well, because I couldn't put my finger on the mechanics behind it. This is so simple, and yet, art. It breaks things down into simple concepts, but shows it takes practice to hone the skills (obviously, otherwise I'd be sauntering into that lead FBI negotiator position myself). Why should we start our questions with "what" and "how"? Why do we want the other guy to say no? When is it helpful to use the late night FM DJ voice vs. the chipper, friendly voice? I know the answers now. And they make a hecka-lotta sense.

If you read one self-help, communication, non-fiction book this year, read this one! Also, the Audible narrator was a pleasure to listen to. He did a wonderful job.

I'd rate this book a PG for some language and episodes of peril/violence.