Drawing on his experience as former Head of Hostage Negotiation and Armed Policing Scotland, Kirk will share his Listening and Negotiation techniques, along with insights for better communication.

He will outline the (“Magnificent Seven” layers of listening), to allow you to understand yourself better and the perspectives and values of others.

You will learn more about the importance of building sustainable relationships and building rapport to reach a win/win solution, which is good for all.

Kirk Kinnell brings the skills of hostage negotiation into the corporate world. He has recently retired, having been a police officer since 1987 and was exposed to the world of Hostage Negotiation in 1995, having since been deployed to approximately two hundred hostage and crisis negotiator incidents.

A highly experienced negotiator, Kirk has been deployed as the lead negotiator on a number of occasions where UK nationals have been kidnapped abroad.

He has instructed on Hostage and Crisis Negotiation since 2001, within the UK and abroad. As the recent Head of Hostage Negotiation and Armed Policing in Scotland, he has a unique insight into both disciplines, which complement each other in the resolution of conflict.

He was also a leading member of the UK National Negotiator Group and Global International Negotiators Working Group, where he proposed and subsequently implemented a global Counter Terrorism Strategy and Training Programme, which was adopted by the nations represented.

He has been invited to speak at various National Conferences including Columbus Ohio, Sweden, Dubai, Japan and has instructed internationally at the Hostage Crisis Negotiator Course of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in Quantico, Virginia, USA.

He has represented the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the U.K. Government Counter Terrorist Bilateral Assistance Programme by training the Philippine National Police.

He was also recently the lead advisor to U.S. Law Enforcement through the Police Executive Research Forum and produced models for Conflict Resolution, Decision Making and De-escalation of Force, having designed a training strategy for implementation across the USA, attending events in Savannah, Boston, New York and Washington.

He has more recently been delivering training to the private sector on business negotiation, listening and influencing skills throughout the U.K. and beyond to places like China, Dubai, Brazil, New Zealand, Singapore and throughout Europe.

In terms of operational activity, he is heavily involved in corporate contract negotiations as an alternative to litigation and arbitration ensuring the best deal available for those he represents.