High-stakes conversations: what organisations can learn from hostage negotiations

What can organisations learn from hostage negotiation? In this episode of our “Work in progress” series, Dr Sanjay Popat speaks with former hostage negotiator Nigel Taberner about the psychological realities of working under extreme pressure. Drawing on more than 130 life-at-risk incidents, Nigel reflects on stress, emotional control, communication in high-pressure environments, and what leaders and organisations can learn from professions where every interaction matters.

This episode was recorded on 28th April 2026. A transcript of the episode is available. If you would like to get in touch regarding the episode or podcast, email research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. Visit the podcast webpage for further information.

About the speakers:

Nigel Taberner is a former UK hostage negotiator and expert speaker on communication, influence, and negotiation. During his 10-year career as a negotiator, he saved over 130 lives, successfully resolving highly volatile armed sieges, domestic and international kidnaps and high-risk suicide interventions. As a passionate and engaging speaker, Nigel brings to life, through his stories, subjects such as elite-level listening, emotional intelligence and how to influence people and negotiate when you have nothing to give away.

Dr Sanjay Popat is a Chartered Organisational Psychologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow specialising in occupational stress, well-being and mental health. His work focuses on how these phenomena occur over time and how time might influence whether we adapt to stressors or reach a breaking point.