Presented by
Management Forum
The Leading Note: Former Hostage & Crisis Negotiator Nicky Perfect’s Secrets to Better Communication & Negotiation
Free
Transform your workplace relationships with crisis negotiation techniques. Discover how a pioneering female police officer's life-or-death communication skills can revolutionise your professional interactions.
- Format: Free webinar
- CPD: 1 hours for your records
- Certificate of completion
Part of The Leading Note 2026 series:
Join us for a FREE series of motivational talks featuring remarkable individuals from diverse fields. Discover their strategies and mindsets that drive success—and how to apply them both professionally and personally. In music, the leading note is the final note before the keynote of the scale. Unlike a keynote talk, which represents the main idea or conclusion, these leading note talks explore the path and momentum that guide you there—an ideal metaphor for talks focused on strategies that drive success.
Overview
After 31 years as a Metropolitan Police officer, including 10 years as an international hostage and crisis negotiator, Nicky worked on the elite New Scotland Yard Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. She has travelled the world teaching negotiation, advising Her Majesty’s Government on international operations, and speaking with hundreds of people in crisis — from suicide interventions to kidnaps in progress.
Nicky became the first woman to be appointed Director of UK Training for the National Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Course, where she trained police officers nationwide to handle life-or-death situations. Since retiring from the police, she has built a thriving consultancy and training business specialising in communication and negotiation.
From the streets of London to the front lines of global crises, Nicky shares her extraordinary story of spending over three decades keeping people safe – and learning what it truly takes to build trust in the most difficult moments.
Today, she combines her experience with a passion for helping others improve their communication, negotiation skills, and relationships – both at work and in life.
This training course is part of our collection of Leadership & Management Training Courses which focus on leadership, innovation, strategy, communication, finance, problem solving and conflict management, to name a few key areas.
Benefits of attending
- Gain practical tools for building trust quickly in high-stakes situations
- Learn techniques used by elite negotiators to communicate under pressure
- Understand how to de-escalate conflict and create calm in emotionally charged moments
- Discover strategies to improve relationships and collaboration at work
- Be inspired by a pioneering woman who broke barriers and led change in a male-dominated field
- Explore how lessons from hostage negotiation can be applied to business, leadership, and everyday life
Who should attend?
- Professionals seeking to enhance their communication and negotiation skills at work
- Teams who want to improve collaboration, conflict management, and decision-making
- General audiences looking for a unique, inspiring, and motivational story that blends real-world crisis experience with practical life lessons
Nicky Perfect BEM
Nicky is an international hostage and crisis negotiator turned world renowned trainer and speaker.
She spent 31 years as a Metropolitan police officer and the last 10 of those years as an international hostage and crisis negotiator.
Nicky worked on the elite New Scotland Yard Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. She has travelled the world teaching negotiation and working with Her Majesty's Government on international operations and had the privilege of talking to hundreds of people in crisis.
Nicky spent many years as the Director of UK Training of the National Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Course. She was the first female to be posted to this role and became responsible for designing and training police officers across the UK to deal with life and death situations from suicide intervention to crime in action (kidnaps)
On retiring from the police Nicky purchased her local garage, converted the car showroom into a coffee shop and gym keeping the garage workshop, creating a community hub.
She has her own consultancy/training business specialising in communication and negotiation.
Over the years Nicky learned the skills to create a system of building trust quickly in very difficult circumstances.
Her mission is to share those lessons she learnt as a negotiator to help others improve their communication /negotiation skills and ultimately their relationships in life and work. She has worked with large organisations including Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Smith – Nephew, NHS, Police Now, educational establishments including College of Policing, Brunel University and Southampton University and other organisations including working with Head Teachers associations and speaking at GP conferences.
In the 2022 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List, she was awarded the British Empire Medal for “meritorious service to the community during the pandemic”.
She is the author of “Crisis – true stories from my life as a hostage negotiator” published by HQ HarperCollins and a best seller on Amazon and has appeared on radio and TV as an expert in negotiation and communication including BBC Radio 4s Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 3 Counties, Crimewatch, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Own, Daily Mail,
Nicky lives with her partner, step daughter, 8 goats and 4 dogs. In her own words “life is never boring”.
Register for The Leading Note: Former Hostage & Crisis Negotiator Nicky Perfect’s Secrets to Better Communication & Negotiation
10 March 2026
12:00-13:00 UK (London)
13:00-14:00 Paris
08:00-09:00 New York
