The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 57 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
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.”
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.”
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”
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…”
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…”
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…”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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…”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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…”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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…”
Voss: Communication and emotional intelligence are perishable skills requiring regular practice
“Without question communication, emotional intelligence is an unlimited skill and a perishable skill. So if you haven't built it. You know, it's like going to the gym. You're not going to be in shape unless you go to the gym. Stop going to the gym. You start sl…”
Voss: Matching a Counterpart's Internal Voice Unlocks Influence in Negotiation
“I have to say something that's really close to what the voice in your head is saying at the moment, because otherwise the voice in your head is going to distract you. So as soon as I start lining up with a voice in your head, you don't listen to that. You star…”
Voss: Proactively calling out negative perceptions diffuses them rather than denying them
“It has shown consistently that calling out negatives, not denying them, calling them out, diffuses them.”
Voss: Manipulative negotiators weaponize the word 'fair' to coerce compromises
“The manipulative negotiators learn that using that phrase will cause you, probably cause you to compromise your position because inside you'd be like, I don't want to be unfair.”
Voss: Prolonged dialogue inevitably exposes liars and destroys relationships
“Even if you're great at lying, it's exhaustive. And if I talk to you long enough, you're going to say something contradictory and I'm going to figure it out. So even if I'm good at it, you're going to catch me ultimately. And then the relationship is destroyed…”
Voss: Deception by omission permanently destroys trust and relationships
“When I find out that you deceived me by omission, I'm probably not going to be angry with you, but I'll never trust you again.”
Voss: Polygraphs are inadmissible in court due to wild operator variation
“So I know if you, if they ask five questions, Then it was a lousy operator, not the machine. And so the operators vary so wildly. That's why it's generally not admissible in court.”
Chris Voss: Blending assertion with soft skills creates superstar negotiators
“They're, they have been nurtured into assertion, but then when they, if they can blend assertion with the soft skills, then suddenly they're superstars.”
Chris Voss: People Resist 'Yes' Due to Fear of Hidden Traps
“People are conditioned that if they say yes, they're letting themselves in for something that they don't want. There's a hidden trap. So even if it's something they should say yes to, they won't do it or they're just, they do it painfully because they're, they…”
Voss: Summarize opponents' reality until they confirm it to resolve conflicts
“Summarize to how they see things until they say that's right. Because there's the underlying assumption of that is that your perception of reality is accurate. So while it may be accurate, it's always incomplete. There's no such thing as perfect information.”
Voss: Assertive communicators default to repeating themselves louder when unheard
“I know that that's an aspect of being an assertive. We don't feel heard. We want to say it again more loudly.”
Voss: Assertive negotiators prioritize respect and being heard over closing deals
“Getting what you want is secondary for each type, not primary. What the assertive really wants is respect and to know they've been heard. If you treat an assertive with respect and you show them that they've been heard, they're going to come significantly in y…”
Voss: Analyst negotiators prioritize gathering information over closing deals
“Cause conflict is just one outcome. They see conflict is highly inefficient and it's a, it's an inefficient choice. And there are many other choices. So they just avoid conflict. There are also some people refer to them as avoiders. I think that's an inaccurat…”
Voss: Accommodators prioritize positive relationship interactions over deal outcomes
“Accommodators. What do they want? Relationship oriented, hope oriented, positivity oriented. What they really want is for us to have a great interaction.”
Voss: Shared silence functions as a bonding experience for analysts
“Analysts love to think they love silence. And in silence with you, they will start to bond with you. Shared silence is a bonding experience. Because you're being quiet because you obviously like to think. And you respect that they like to think.”
Voss: Accommodators interpret conversational silence as a signal of fury
“Now, accommodator, relationship oriented. The silent treatment is the meanest thing they could do. It signals fury to go silent.”
Voss: Taking three seconds of space prevents losing emotional control
“Like if I can get myself three seconds of space, then that's enough time to gather myself up. I get triggered. If I don't give myself that three seconds, and I start going down a rabbit hole, I lose control too.”
Voss: FBI hostage negotiators have a 93% to 94% success rate
“Hostage negotiators have roughly a 93, 94% success rate.”
Voss: People are 31% smarter in a positive frame of mind
“You're 31% smarter in a positive frame of mind.”
Voss: People ghost because they feel unheard or lack decision power
“So there's only, there's two, there's only two possibilities why talking to you doesn't do them any good, and it's usually a combination of both. You're not listening, or at least they feel you're not listening, because all you're doing is giving advice, makin…”
Voss: Strategic Project Question Signals High Ambition and Team Alignment
“That immediately tells your employer, you're a team player. You're not grabbing on your own behalf. And not only you're a team player, you want to play in a championship. So even if you don't get into the championship, they know you want to be there and they n…”
Voss: Asking interviewers how to succeed recruits them as unofficial mentors
“Now what you've just done with that question is recruited an unofficial mentor. Cause they're gonna watch to see if you do what they told you to do. To see if you take instruction. First critical issue. Do you know how to do what you're told? Secondly, they no…”
Voss: All interactions are negotiations because time is always traded
“Almost everything, why is almost everything in negotiation? You're negotiating for people's time. That's a commodity. Time is always a commodity involved. Even if it's a cash transaction, there's time is involved. Money's not always involved. And most people t…”