Workbook: Never Split The Difference: An Interactive Guide to Chris Voss's Book

Good read, helpful for a salesperson.

I am a fan of Chris Voss and his company. I was exposed to Chris Voss through MasterClass, watching his negotiation program. He makes it look/seem easy. Then I read the book, and that also is very well-written and easy to understand. However, as a very non-confrontational person in business negotiations, I found that practicing for me, particularly planning for a negotiation is still a challenge. For that reason, I got interested in a workbook to help me think through things a little more thoroughly. That’s how I’ve found this workbook. I have an issue at work that is emotionally charged for me so my mind blanks due to worry as I’m sitting down to prepare. I’ve used this workbook to help me fully think through the perspectives at play in order to plan for the pending negotiations. I’ve copied some pages to reuse with other matters so I will have the book at my side when I need it. I’m impressed with what is in this workbook and am beyond confident that the value of the book will be multiples of the cost if I use it for the negotiations to save money with a contractor and consultant who are trying to pinch us for more money. I am glad to recommend this book. I know there weren’t a ton of reviews when I bought it so I want to put this out there for those who are wondering if the workbook is worth it. It’s not super long, so it’s easy to work through and use it to gather thoughts before a negotiation. There are plenty of reflective prompts that align with each chapter. The prompts are presented in a simple format, with room to write your thoughts after each. The prompts have helped me start and not feel overwhelmed as I’m evaluating my pending negotiation.

This workbook will change your life!

This is a great companion work book to the book, Never Split the Difference. It breaks down each chapter and allows for thinking and note taking. It explains the book in a little more detail without being too wordy. Definitely would recommend.

This book offers a very light summary of each chapter, with some writing exercises at the end. I did not find it very useful for me, but it may be useful for you. I recently purchased, and then started reading, "Never Split the Difference". By the time I got to chapter 3, I realized, I wouldn't get very much out of this book unless I changed my approach. "Never Split the Difference" has a LOT of content in it, and simple sit-down-and-read is not going to be very effective. Most of us won't retain much unless we reinforce the materials and practice the techniques. I went back and started from the beginning and now took notes. Detailed notes. Pro tip: taking notes, but rephrasing the concepts in your own words, as opposed to just rote copying from the book, forces you to process the information and helps to cement it in your memory. And each time, before I started up again, I reviewed my notes from the previous session. In addition, I began talking about the techniques and other aspects of the book with two friends of mine who have already read the book. I also made flash cards for key points and other details that I want to be able to recall quickly. In short, I am treating “Never Split the Difference” like I'm taking a class, and using various techniques to reinforce the material. Soon, my two friends and I will begin some workshops with each other that I will create, so that we can practice the techniques. When I received this workbook yesterday, I was dismayed to see that my own notes were far better than the chapter summaries. In truth, I didn't find the chapter summaries to be very well written, in fact, they feel a lot like they are AI generated summaries. The simplistic notes and the not very helpful writing exercises at the end of each chapter give the illusion of a "workbook" designed to reinforce the concepts of the book, but in fact, the entire workbook reminds me mostly of activities I might have done in grade school. I didn't like those kinds of activities then, and I don't like them now. The whole book has a very artificial, light, feel to it, as if someone used a bunch of shortcuts to get something out to the market fast. I expected the book to have examples on how to try out the techniques, how to create a script, reinforcement exercises, and more, but it was not that. It appears to have been cobbled together very quickly with heavy reliance on "cheater" tools (for example, AI). But, if you simply breezed through the book and didn't take notes this could be a moderately useful tool in revisiting the highlights of each chapter. However, I don't think the writing exercises at the end of each chapter are very useful and you would be much better off taking your own notes and coming up with your own methods to reinforce the material and practice the techniques. November 10, 2025 San Rafael, CA, USA