Insight
Voss: Decoupling understanding from agreement unlocks unmatched influence
“So when you can decouple those, Then actually you give yourself the ability to influence people in a way nobody else can.”
Insight
Voss: Lying is never necessary in negotiation, even in life-or-death scenarios
“No, I don't think it's ever necessary. I'm very much against it.”
Assertion Contradicted
Voss: Psychopathy Prevalence Estimates Have Risen to Roughly 1 in 35
“When I first started looking at the number, you know, they used to say like one in every 112, 116, and now they're saying roughly one in 35”
Insight
Voss: Vocal Tone Triggers Involuntary Neurochemical Responses That Dissolve Barriers
“Your response to my tone of voice is a neurochemical response, which means it's not a choice. And if it's, if I can trigger neurochemicals in your brain, then you can't stop me from triggering them. Now you can fight them. But I can initiate the process, which…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Voss: The 9/11 investigation was solved by FBI New York, not Headquarters
“Nine 11 was solved by FBI New York. And Mueller had just taken over, and they wanted headquarters to be in charge, but FBI New York knew what was going on, so what they did, so the headquarters were being charged, they transferred everybody into New York to he…”
Opinion
Voss: Donald Trump gained admiration simply by refusing to ever apologize
“Whatever you think of Donald Trump, love him or hate him, nobody's in the middle. I think he gained so much admiration by refusing to back off of what he said. And every politician prior to him, they'd say something and they get criticized and a politician say…”
Insight
Voss: Six instigators can turn a 2,000-person peaceful crowd into a mob
“And then they show us how a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, numbering anywhere from 50 to 2000, Can be turned into a raging violent mob by six instigators. Only six instigators to turn a peaceful crowd of a thousand into a raging violent mob.”
Opinion
Voss: Fox News and CNN intentionally act as professional instigators
“And the people with the megaphones are professional instigators. They want us at each other's throats. And I think if we're just aware that their intent is to instigate, whether they be with Fox news or whether they be with CNN, Their intent is to instigate.”
Insight
Voss: Warning someone they will get angry inoculates against anger
“And then why, if you're not angry yet, I might say to you, this is gonna make you angry. And it doesn't plant anger, it inoculates you from it.”
Insight
Voss: Tactical empathy works universally across cultures and religions
“No matter where you grew up, no matter what your ethnicity, your culture, your diet, your religion, I know that you've got these five core emotions. And so empathy, tactical empathy works with Arabs, works with Persians works with Latinos because you're a huma…”
Insight
Voss: Curiosity can open up anyone because it is impossible to resist
“Simultaneously, I can open anybody up like anybody with my curiosity because curiosity is impossible to resist.”
Insight
Voss: Hostage Takers Rehearse for Arguments but Never for Empathy
“They're prepared for arguments. They're not, they were never prepared for empathy. Ever.”
Opinion
Voss: Modern business accepts deception by omission due to short-term fear
“Business these days, Deception by omission tends to be accepted. And it's out of defensiveness. People don't know how to tell the truth. And you get really caught up in short term.”
Insight
Voss: Universal deception 'tells' do not exist; lie detection requires individual baseline
“So tells per se are strictly within context to the person. And I will talk to you long enough until I get an idea of what you look like when you're telling the truth. That's what I'm looking for.”
Opinion
Voss: You cannot beat a skilled polygraph examiner
“You can't beat a good polygrapher and it's whether or not the polygrapher is any good. And a really good polygrapher will tell you before they put you on the box, Whether or not you're lying and a good polygrapher either.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Voss: Society Will Always Need to Incarcerate Some People Permanently
“There are, we are never going to get away from the reality that there are going to be some people that we're going to need to lock up and never let out.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Voss: Global population splits evenly across three conflict archetypes
“We believe strongly that the world splits evenly into thirds. Doesn't matter gender, ethnicity, geography, religion.”
Opinion
Chris Voss: The media has never been accurate
“Media has never been accurate. And so to say that, you know, the quote, the lamestream media, if you will, well, they were never not that way. We're just a little more aware of it now.”
Insight
Voss: Asking "Have you given up?" ends email ghosting within minutes
“But when you're being ghosted, you're going to get a response within three to five minutes of them seeing it. So when you send it, you ought to be staying by your device in case they see it right away. Cause it's coming, screaming back at you.”
Insight
Voss: Say "I'm sorry" before delivering bad news to prep the recipient
“I say I'm sorry all the time in front of bad news, not after it. And it's a softener. It's a warning... If I say, I'm sorry in front, you're like, Ooh, what's coming? You're ready for bad news. You're prepped. If I give you bad news and then say, I'm sorry, th…”
Insight
Voss: Bosses are conditioned to view employees as selfish
“So whether we like it or not, bosses, supervisors are conditioned to think of everybody as selfish. Because every time you come to me, you want, all you want is something for yourself. That's the reality.”
Opinion
Voss: Going undercover psychologically ruins almost every law enforcement agent involved
“Going undercover almost ruins everybody that does it. It's such a problem that there, every law enforcement agency that has undercovers sets up a lot of psychologists to try to fix these people.”
Opinion
Voss: FBI Headquarters is 80% career bureaucrats serving political appointees
“FBI headquarters is mostly not exclusively. They got a few great leaders there. But they're 80% career bureaucrats, and then they work ultimately for a political appointee. So they got to try to navigate that whipsaw.”
Insight
Voss: Empathy is observing emotions without offering sympathy or agreement
“Empathy was originally designed to not be sympathy. It's been contorted, convoluted into usage. These days people say if you have empathy, that means you sympathize, you have compassion. Empathy is just observing the other person's Emotions. And where it's you…”
Chris Voss