Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Tom Wilkinson and welcome to the Thinking in English podcast, a podcast for intermediate to advanced level English learners. Negotiations are an important part of our lives, whether we are buying a house, asking for a higher salary or trying to convince your family to go on vacation. Today, let's take a look at negotiations. We'll discuss different types of negotiation, some of the key negotiation theories and think about how we can negotiate in English. You can find a full and free transcript for this episode on Spotify, where there are also subtitles and on my website, link in the description. Here is today's vocabulary list. Negotiate Negotiate To discuss something in order to reach an agreement, as in, they had to negotiate the terms of the contract before signing it. Terms Terms The conditions under which an agreement is made. For example, the terms of the deal were carefully reviewed by both parties. Offer Offer A proposal presented for acceptance or rejection. As in, she made an offer to buy the car for $10,000. Contract Contract A written or spoken agreement that is intended to be enforceable by law. For example, the lawyer reviewed the contract before the client signed it. Party Party The people or groups involved in a legal agreement or negotiation. For example, each party to the contract must fulfil their obligations. Dialogue Dialogue A conversation between two or more people, especially as a feature of negotiation. For example, the dialogue between the two companies resulted in a successful partnership. Compromise Compromise An agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. For example, after hours of negotiation, they finally reached a compromise. Negotiation is an essential skill in both our professional and personal lives. For some of you, it could be a major part of your job. There will be listeners of this podcast who are lawyers responsible for negotiating legal settlements and contract details. Some of you may work in business and be in charge of negotiating prices for transactions and services that your company wants or offers. Even if negotiating is not a specific part of your work, it is still something important for all professionals. Maybe you are negotiating a pay rise with your company, or the starting pay for a new job, or the amount of vacation in your work contract. You could be self-employed like I am and have to negotiate the price for a podcast sponsorship with a company, or how much to pay a freelancer to do a few hours work for you each week. Negotiation in personal situations, negotiating with friends and family, is still a common occurrence. Reaching the higher levels of English, especially business English, will also mean learning how to negotiate in English. So let's start with a few definitions. To negotiate is a verb that means to discuss something, often formally, in order to reach an agreement. Negotiation is the noun form of this, referring specifically to the dialogue between people trying to reach an agreement. This process often involves dialogue or discussions between two or more parties, meaning the sides of the negotiation, who are seeking to resolve differences or reach a beneficial decision. In other words, it is a process that involves talking between two or more sides to settle disagreements or make decisions that benefit everyone involved. Imagine you're starting a new job and discussing your salary with your future employer. You and your employer will negotiate to agree on a salary that satisfies both of you. You obviously want the highest salary possible with the best benefits, while your employer may have a budget and company policies to consider. You two can negotiate to find a solution you are both happy with. I'm a self-employed podcaster. I often need to negotiate contracts with companies that want to sponsor or partner with Thinking in English. Before signing the contract, I need to negotiate the timeline, the payment terms including the amount, payment methods and when I'm paid, and ensure what the company expects me to deliver. For example, in a recent negotiation, we had different ideas on when to publish the episode. I only publish episodes on Mondays, and they wanted an episode in a time frame that didn't include a Monday. By negotiating, I convinced them to allow me to publish on a Monday with an agreement I would also share something on my website. Let's take a more detailed look at when you might need to negotiate and the different types of negotiations. In your personal life, there are various different situations in which negotiations are important. When you are buying a house, or a car, or another big purchase, you will need to negotiate the prices, terms and fees to try and get a better deal. Negotiating with friends and family can help resolve conflicts or disagreements. Even in less serious situations like deciding on vacation plans or where to eat dinner, family members might negotiate to decide on things like the budget. If you are a student right now, negotiation skills can also be useful. If you need more time to complete an assignment, you might negotiate with your professor to extend the deadline. When working on group projects, students often negotiate roles and responsibilities to ensure fair distribution of work and collaboration. And of course, business situations are full of negotiations, whether it is contract negotiations, forming business partnerships, or negotiating a salary. Actually, there are different types of negotiation. A distributive negotiation is sometimes described as a win-lose negotiation. It involves dividing a fixed amount of resources, such as money, time, or goods. Importantly, in this situation, if you get what you want, you win. The other side loses something they want. An example is negotiating the price of a product. When buying a car, you negotiate with the dealer to lower the price. Every dollar you save is a dollar the dealer does not get. Every time you win, the dealer loses. The focus of a distributive negotiation is maximizing your own benefits. The aim is to claim as much value as possible from the resources available. On the other hand, there are integrative negotiations. An integrative negotiation is a win-win negotiation. The goal is to find agreements that benefit everyone involved. For example, two companies negotiate a partnership where they combine their resources and expertise to create a new product. Both companies benefit from the increased market reach and shared profits. We could also throw in multi-party negotiations as a unique type of negotiation. Most negotiations involve two sides, but some can include many sides. For example, the attempts to negotiate international agreements on climate change involve negotiations between hundreds of countries at the same time. In this episode, I'm going to give you some specific advice for non-native English speakers when negotiating. First though, as this is Thinking in English, I thought I'd briefly introduce three theories related to negotiating that might be interesting and useful to all of you. First is principled negotiation from the Harvard Negotiation Project. Principled negotiation is a method developed and used by the Harvard Negotiation Project, a research group that explores negotiation and conflict resolution. The key idea is to focus on interests, not positions. Positions are the specific outcome each party wants. For example, I want a higher salary. Interests are the underlying reasons or needs behind those positions. For example, my experience and qualifications deserve a better salary. By focusing on interests, you can discover the true needs of both parties and find solutions that address those needs. Another part of this is separating people from the problem. Emotions, egos and misunderstandings can complicate negotiations, so you should try to address the negotiation without making it personal. One of the best ways to do this is to base the negotiation on objective standards, such as market value, legal precedents or expert opinions. This reduces bias and allows for a fairer and more transparent negotiation process. For example, rather than focusing on your position of wanting a higher salary, I want a higher salary, you should focus on your interest. Why do you want a higher salary? Why do you deserve a higher salary? Maybe you could show that the market value, the average salary for your job position is a certain level higher than you're currently being paid. You present this evidence and it's much harder to argue against evidence than it is to argue against a position. The next theory is ZOPA, the zone of possible agreement. When you are negotiating the price of a new car, ZOPA is the overlap between the minimum the seller is willing to accept and the maximum that you are willing to pay. If there is a ZOPA, there is a potential for a deal. If there isn't a ZOPA, the negotiation may fail unless one side makes changes to their expectations. For example, you may be willing to pay $10,000 for a car, but the seller is willing to take at a minimum $11,000. There is no overlap, so making a deal will be really difficult even if you negotiate. Before entering a negotiation, you should clearly understand your minimum acceptable outcome and estimate the other party's range. If you are negotiating a salary, you should know what you ideally want, your minimum and what you think the other company is going to offer. During negotiations, you can always expand the ZOPA by offering additional things. Your minimum salary expectation might be $50,000 and the company's maximum offer might be $48,000. There is no zone of potential agreement, there is no overlap. However, the company might offer you remote working 3 days a week, or 10 extra days of paid vacation, or free lunches, or a company car, or company health insurance. These extra things might make you willing to consider a slightly lower salary and expand the ZOPA. Understanding boundaries and knowing your limits is really important when negotiating. The third theory is the anchoring effect, which is actually a cognitive bias. Anchoring describes the human tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information, the anchor, when making decisions. I visited Malaysia when I was 19 and I witnessed first hand an example of why you should be aware of the anchoring effect. We were in a market shopping for souvenirs and a friend saw a keyring that he liked. I had bought a very similar one the day before and it cost me about $1 after I negotiated the price. I asked how much the keyring was, the seller told me a price, that was about $2 I guess. This anchored the price at $2, that was the first piece of information. I offered $1 and they accepted. My friend however, made an offer first. He offered $3 straight away before asking what the seller was charging. This anchored the price at $3. The seller then said $5 and my friend eventually paid $4, for something that I paid $1 for the day before. The first offer or proposal in a negotiation serves as an anchor, influencing the subsequent discussion. This initial offer can set the tone and range of the entire negotiation, so you should be really aware that the first piece of information is so important. If you set a high anchor, the other party is likely to adjust their expectations upward, even if they eventually negotiate the price down. You shouldn't let the initial anchor influence your perception of a fair deal or change what you are willing to accept. It is why you should set boundaries like in Azulpa. You should reframe the negotiation by introducing new information or changing the terms. Anchoring is especially useful in price negotiations, such as in real estate or salary discussions, and it's why it's so important that you know what your realistic minimum and maximum salary or price paying for a car is. Negotiating in a non-native language, your non-native language, English, can be challenging. But with the right strategies, you can learn how to negotiate. One of the key things to try is language preparation. Before entering a negotiation, you could familiarise yourself with essential negotiation-related vocabulary and phrases. Practice using terms like counter-offer, mutual agreement, concessions and compromise in sentences. Depending on what the negotiation is about, like salary, buying a car, learn some of the key vocabulary related to that topic. Rehearse common negotiation scenarios with a language partner, tutor or even on your own. Roleplay different parts of the negotiation, such as opening statements, counter-offers and closing the deal. Before a negotiation, general preparation is also important. Research and gather information so that you know what you are negotiating over. Know the value of what you're negotiating, whether it is the market value of an expensive watch or the average salary for an accountant in Spain. This is especially important if you're looking for an international job. Salaries vary dramatically between countries, so making sure you know what is realistic is important. If you're currently in the USA and you want to move to the UK, you're going to need to take a pay cut, probably. And so there's no point arguing or negotiating for a much higher salary. And same if you're in the UK and you want to move to parts of Europe or Japan, you also need to take a pay cut. So you have to be realistic with what you're negotiating over. During a negotiation, you should practice some effective communication techniques. For example, practice active listening. Pay close attention to what the other party is saying. Show that you are listening by nodding your head, summarising their points and asking clarifying questions. Asking open-ended questions is also important. By asking open-ended questions like, can you tell me more about your priorities? Or what are your main concerns? You can encourage the other side to share more information. Many of us rely on closed questions, questions that receive yes-no answers. But open-ended questions can benefit us more in negotiations. There are also some great persuasion techniques you can try. Support your arguments with facts, data and logical reasoning. Present evidence that backs up your position and shows the benefits of your proposal. It is much easier for you to ask for a higher salary if you can show that the average salary for your position is also higher. At the same time, understand the other side's position. Be willing to make small concessions to encourage the other party to reciprocate. Show goodwill and a willingness to collaborate. As a non-native English speaker, don't be afraid to ask for repetition or clarification if you don't understand. Use phrases like, could you please clarify that? Or I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Hopefully by applying these tips and understanding some of the theories behind negotiation, you can become a more effective negotiator and learn how to negotiate in English. So here is today's final thought. Negotiation is an important skill that has relevance to both our professional and personal lives. Whether you're a lawyer, a business professional or a normal person, learning negotiation skills can really help you communicate and achieve better outcomes. By understanding key negotiation theories and preparing effectively, especially when negotiating in a non-native language, you can approach discussions with confidence. But what do you think? What was the last thing you negotiated over? Have you ever negotiated something and got a great deal? Have you ever negotiated for a higher salary? Or have you ever negotiated for a lower price on a car or something? Let me know by leaving a comment. Comment on Spotify, comment on my website, thinkinginenglish.blog, where there's a transcript, links in the description, or reach out to me on Patreon or Discord if you're a Patreon subscriber. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next time, goodbye.