How to Untie a Balloon (A Negotiator's Guide to Avoid Popping Under Pressure)

Pressure is inevitable. How you handle it determines everything.

In this expanded hardcover edition of How to Untie a Balloon, former hostage negotiator and Conflictish® founder Ryan Dunlap delivers a practical framework for staying composed under pressure, resolving conflicts, and leading effectively when the stakes are high. With a new chapter and never-before-shared stories of real-world negotiation experience in life-or-death situations, Dunlap reveals how unchecked pressure distorts thinking, escalates conflict, and quietly sabotages relationships at work and at home.

At the center of this practical guide is the F.I.R.S.T. Steps framework—Feelings, Interests, Relationships, Situation, and Toll—a clear, repeatable process for navigating difficult conversations with confidence and control. Whether you are leading a team, negotiating a deal, strengthening a partnership, or working through personal conflict, this framework equips you to break complex tension into manageable parts and move toward resolution.

Through compelling real-life stories, sharp strategic insights, and actionable tools, the second edition will show you how to:

• Regulate emotion in the heat of conflict to preserve credibility and influence
• Identify the deeper interests driving tension and move beyond surface disagreements
• Prevent escalation and protect relationships under stress
• Approach high-stakes conversations with clarity and structure
• Transform pressure from a liability into a leadership advantage

For professionals ready to take their leadership to the next level, How to Untie a Balloon, 2nd Edition, is a necessary resource for growing your leadership influence and developing the self-mastery to thrive under any pressure.