Three recent podcasts that helped me learn about negotiation:

The three sites have a great summary of the podcast or the transcript. All episodes share something, the same ingredients that work for coaching and for making change happen actually. I’d remark the following tips:

  • Be authentic and empathize with the other person. What are their needs, dreams, fears and expectations? What is their worldview?
  • Ask open questions. This is also true when coaching, do not ask questions which answer is going to be “Yes”, “No” or “OK”. You achieve this changing your “Why” questions for “What” questions. “Tell me” or “What’s on your mind” work really well.
  • Do not tell others what they have to do.
  • To give the other person the feeling that he is making decisions by himself, provide three options he can choose rather than just one. If you only give one option, he will have to accept (give in)  or to reject your request (most likely). On the other hand, if you offer three options, he will feel empowered to choose one of them rather than rejecting all of them.
  • Ask for small requests before the big thing so that your partners starts increasingly investing in you.