Speaker

Scott is an internationally recognized crisis negotiator, advisor, trainer and keynote speaker. He is known and respected for his experience negotiating in highly charged situations, with high stakes and when the situation requires sensitivity to the human element. Clients, audiences and students alike, find Scott’s teachings, insightful, inspiring and pragmatic.   

Scott worked as a hostage/crisis negotiator with one of the largest regional SWAT teams in the United States for many years before moving into the role of a negotiations speaker and trainer. He has over 20 years of law enforcement experience and retired from a Chicago area police department in 2023 at the rank of Lieutenant. He was trained by in negotiation by the FBI and has studied at the Harvard University Program on Negotiation, at IMD Business School, and he continues to receive training from the world’s top negotiators.  

​Scott is a prolific trainer within the negotiation field and travels the country and around the world speaking to a wide variety of audiences. He has taught negotiations at Harvard University, for the FBI, and has keynoted for companies such as Microsoft and Bosch.  In 2016, he was invited to give a TEDx talk titled “The Secrets of Hostage Negotiators”, which has received over 1 million views.  His visibility as a speaker and educator through TEDx and other venues has reached global status.  
 
Scott currently resides in the Chicago area and is a Partner and co-founder with the Negotiations Collective, where he works with organizations and their leaders on how to have difficult conversations to resolve conflict and increase their influence.