Embracing Negotiating Opportunities

Take advantage of everyday negotiations and improve your skills.

We face negotiations every day of our lives. Even where it’s not explicit or obvious that you are negotiating, if you’re involved in any sort of transaction or decision that involves other businesses or people, then – guess what? – you’re in a negotiation.

It follows that some negotiations involve significantly higher stakes than others, too. Selling a house, buying a car, or settling a lawsuit that’s been weighing on you for months or years all are more significant monetary deals than deciding where to go to dinner with your spouse or agreeing with your pre-teen on number of permissible weekly hours for playing video games. However, the negotiation process for each scenario will have some common elements.

And negotiation skills can be learned with practice. Yes, some of us may take to negotiation more naturally than others. Some enjoy the deal-making process, and for others it instills fear or dread. But we can all get better and more comfortable speaking the language of negotiation. …