Scott Tillema

Scott Tillema is an internationally recognized crisis negotiator, corporate trainer and professional keynote speaker. He is known and respected for his experience negotiating in emotionally charged incidents, with high stakes and when the situation requires sensitivity to the human element.   

Scott has over 20 years of municipal law enforcement experience in the Chicago area and specializes in hostage and crisis negotiation.  He was trained by the FBI and spent many years negotiating with one of the largest regional SWAT teams in the United States.   

Educationally, Scott holds a master’s degree in psychology, a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science, and has received negotiation training at Harvard University’s Program on Negotiation. 

Today, Scott is a partner at The Negotiations Collective, an international negotiations training firm where he provides corporate training and keynote speeches to clients from across the world around the concepts of influence, conflict resolution, and difficult conversations.  

Scott is a prolific trainer speaking to audiences of all professions, having provided training at universities, companies and organizations such as Harvard, Microsoft, Bosch, the FBI, multiple YPO chapters, human resource groups, project manager associations, leadership groups and many more. 

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.