1. Getting it right

Your structure is the road-map that will make every step of your presentation feel comfortable and deliberate. Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end – and so does every compelling presentation. Without structure, you will stumble through your speech like a child fumbling in the dark. A properly structured presentation will flow easily and naturally – and knowing where you are going is like a beam of light shining on the path ahead. No missteps, no embarrassing detours. Your audience will be drawn along with you as you lead them on a captivating journey of insight and discovery.

2. Having a logical, thought-through structure will help you

- Easily navigate your way through your presentation without getting lost, tripping up or repeating yourself
- Ensure that your audience stays with you for every step of the way
- Keep your timing on track
- Present with clarity and relevance
- Deal with any distractions or side-tracks elegantly and effortlessly

3. The 5 key elements of a well-structured presentation are

1. A gripping, no-nonsense opening statement
2. A consistent thread or theme which runs all the way through
3. Content divided into short chunks which hold the audience’s attention
4. A natural flow which carries the audience effortlessly
5. The inclusion of ‘hooks’ and buy-in moments which keep the audience awake and alert
6. A well structured presentation is like a detailed map…

Having a clear, thought-through structure to your presentation is like having a personalised, detailed map, with your route clearly marked with a bright pink highlighter!

There are sign-posts and key markers all along the way, making it impossible for you to get lost, or waste time on an irrelevant detour.

Presentations have been a part of everyone’s life from elementary school upwards, but that doesn’t mean people enjoy them. When you are a writer though, a significant part of your income can be made from a good presentation. So how do you start?

1: Pick the Right Topic: If you have a strength or interest, that is a good starting point for a presentation. Sometimes it is a book you wrote, or maybe you have a series of articles that someone read, or something pertaining to your business. Whatever it is you should know the subject well.

2: Get some props: It is much easier to describe something, than just talk about it. This may not be applicable to all scenarios, but is certainly good if you can make use of it.

3: Timing: Most presentations in church groups, ladies groups etc, will last from 30 – 60 minutes. Plan the time carefully. For example for a one hour presentation:

5 mins: Introduction : who you are,

5 mins: Introduction to the presentation;

30 mins: main talk;

10 mins wrap-up: sum up the main points of the presentation;

10 mins: questions.

4: Handouts: If you plan to use handout, make them easy to read with bulleted points only. Leave room for the audience to make notes of their own. Make sure that the handouts are ready before the presentation starts. You don’t want people to be shuffling papers during your introduction. One way to do this is to make sure that the papers are placed on the seats as the audience comes in, or they are handed the papers as they enter the room.

If you choose to hand something round during the presentation then make sure that the item is clearly labeled. Items take a long time to move through an audience of even 20 people, so make sure that it is a suitable idea. Perhaps starting two samples would work. Make the item relevant to the talk in general – several items that are moving through an audience, each pertaining to a different, specific area of the talk will not work. You will have moved on from that topic before the last of the audience gets the first hand-around!

5: Slides or Powerpoint-type presentations are great for some topics. Again they give you something to talk about, and provide prompts to keep you on target. As a guide, for images, you will need approximately one minute for each image. If the image has several points then adjust that, but do not leave the same image there for more than 3 minutes as people tune out. For a one hour presentation, I like to have between 45 and 50 images.

6: Take a friend: If two people do a presentation it can make the biggest difference to a beginner. Organize your presentation such that you know exactly who is talking about what and for how long.

7: Enjoy it! – OK this is tough at the start, but if you can enthuse about the topic, your audience will be enthusiastic too. If you can bring some personal humorous stories to the talk, then that will be appreciated and keep the audience with you.

No matter what it is that you are presenting to other people, it should be clean cut and organized. This way, they will appreciate what you are telling them and your efforts will pay off. When it comes to creating key performance indicators presentation, there are a few things that you have to consider so that the result would be as planned.

The first thing that you should take a look at is the content of the key performance indicators presentation. Ensure that the pieces of information that you have entered in the KPI PPT are useful and usable by the audience. If you have been doing presentations for a long time now, you will realize that the needs of your viewers and listeners are different. For instance, if you are discussing the KPIs to your technical team, this will mean that you have to produce technical information about the indicators for them. On the other hand, if it is your employees, you should provide them with an easy to understand key performance indicators presentation especially if you are introducing the topic to them. It is always helpful if you have examples ready as well as credible sources ready so that you can support your claims.

Managing the content of your key performance indicators presentation is not really that difficult because you can get all the pieces of information you need through the internet. If you have books about the indicators, you can use them to provide details about specific areas in the utilization of the KPIs. The toughest part here is choosing the information that you should share. There might be a lot of things that you want to tell your employees and it can be quite challenging to cut some data out of the content.

While creating the key performance indicators presentation, you will learn that it is actually the design of the KPI PPT that will make the entire process hard for you. In reality, most managers take a lot of time on the designing stage and not on the data completion. This is because the design itself will speak about the whole key performance indicators presentation. If it is too elaborate, it might not be good for you. If it is too simple, it might also work against you. The fact is that there are audiences that are easily turned off just because of the design of the presentation. In this case, the most excellent thing that you can do is to think like the audience. Put yourself in their shoes then take a look at the presentation that you are creating. Do you like it or do you think that you should put in more effort?

There are some businesspeople that choose to hire KPI PPT designers but this can be quite expensive on others’ part. One smart thing that you can do here is to look for examples as well as professional looking indicators presentation templates. They can help steer the PPT that you are working on into a more interesting and well-designed key performance indicators presentation.

Physicians wishing to move into non-clinical positions, whether in a healthcare setting or in other industries, such as biotech, pharmaceutical, advertising, or other industries, must be able to give effective presentations. Physicians wishing to launch substantial business ventures must also be able to give great presentations to a variety of stake holders, such as employees, business associates, potential joint venture partners, potential funding sources, and others.

In addition, giving lectures and presentations helps increase one’s visibility and strengthen one’s brand, which is important in every situation.

Delivering effective presentations is a critical technique that must be mastered if one wants to be a powerful persuader. Effective presentations are at the heart of “excellent communication skills” that so many advertisements list as a requirement for employment. Did you ever know a leader or senior manager who never had to give an important presentation? You just don’t get to the top without possessing this skill. The better you are at giving effective and even inspiring presentations, the faster and farther your career will go. Overall, it is not difficult to give average or standard presentations. With a little more effort, and a lot more practice, becoming an excellent speaker is well within the reach of most physicians. Using the right technology can also be a critical success factor (CSF).

Experts say that the success of a presentation depends mostly on the presentation of a topic. Less than 10 percent depends on the actual words spoken. That means that how you look, your level of confidence as perceived by the audience, your tone of voice, rate of speech, body language, enthusiasm, organization of material, concern for the audience, quality of your slides, and so forth are far more important than what you actually say. Keep this in mind as you prepare for your presentation.

Although one of my mentors, Tom Antion, who is a very successful speaker and Internet marketer, hates Microsoft’s PowerPoint, it is in fact the standard program used for most presentations. A huge portion of our brains is linked to visual input. Because of this, the visual portion of one’s presentation is incredibly important. How one looks and what your slides look like are key elements in the overall success of one’s presentation.

Both simplicity and elegance of your slides are important. In terms of simplicity, a general rule of thumb is to use no more than five lines, and five words per line on each slide. Incorporate graphics, symbols, pictures and color for variety–just don’t overdo it. Don’t use more than two or three colors, for example. Be consistent with colors and format from slide to slide.

In terms of elegance, there is a software program called Power Plugs for PowerPoint you can use that will definitely separate you from the competition, and there are always competitors. I have used this suite of programs for more than five years. Using it allows you to add quality and excitement to all of your PowerPoint presentations, and definitely sets you apart from all the other presentations and presenters. Without going into all of the details, the Power Plugs suite includes:

1. Transitions between slides. There are hundreds of these transitions, which add sophisticated television-style 3D slide effects to your presentations. Its stunning visual effects and realistic, synchronized sounds keep your audiences’ attention and make your message more memorable. The easy-to-use software plugs directly into PowerPoint, enabling you to add 3D animated transitions right from the Slide Show menu.

2. Slide templates: There are thousands of stunning and unique backgrounds to choose from.

3. Video backgrounds: Add incredible, television-quality full-screen moving backgrounds to PowerPoint presentations with just 3 clicks!

4. Pictures: includes many unique pictures, which are not copyrighted, that can easily be placed into your presentations.

5. Animation: includes many unique animations that can easily be placed into your presentations.

6. 3-D Titles: there are dozens of eye-popping three-dimensional title slides that you can adapt to your presentation.

7. Flash-ready: this module allows you to add flash graphics.

8. Music: there is another module that has hundreds of music clips, which are not copyrighted, that you can add.

We all like surprises. Using Power Plugs in your PowerPoint presentations will stun your audience with your unique slide background, television-quality slide transitions, 3-D titles, and other elements you choose to add.

If you want to differentiate yourself, be different. Do something out of the ordinary. Don’t give another traditional, average, run-of-the-mill presentation. Give a surprising, impactful, memorable presentation. Check out Power Plugs and other useful information at www.thedoctorzone.com [http://www.thedoctorzone.com].

To say that customers love Apple products would be an understatement of epic proportions. That their products are world class and considered the ‘platinum standard’ for excellence in consumer technology is no surprise but their penchant for such excellence runs a lot deeper than any other company out there. With Apple, unlike other companies, the ‘devil is NOT in the details’ but in the presentation. Apple is so particular about the way their product or service is portrayed that they conduct specific Advanced Presentation Skills training for their employees in virtually every department except engineering and manufacturing. In Apple’s world, everything is based on the notion that customer DO judge a product by it’s ‘cover’. Hence the need to present it beautifully!

Effective Presentation Training is all about wooing the customer (listener). Most technology commercials bombard the viewer with data such as ‘memory’, ‘processor speed’ and number of ‘plug-in ports’. While such data might get a nerd salivating, those are mindless numbers to the average consumer. Apple TV ads completely ignore all of those and present how their product influences a person’s life. Videos depict people using their products to do everyday ordinary things that people do – play with their kids, exercise, eating out, etc. They focus on the impact their product will make on someone’s life and not just the technical specs of the product. This is presentation that appeals to human intuition at its core.

Apple’s passion for presentation also carries over into their product packaging. Whether it is an iPod, iPhone or iMac, their packaging is simple, uncluttered and user-friendly. While the outside packaging of most technology products are cluttered with specs, features and technical standards, Apple’s product packaging is clean with a full scale size picture of the product on its face, period. The box or casing slides of like velvet.The main product sits gently nuzzled into its core space and the accompanying accessories are tucked away beneath the product, creating a clean, aesthetic looking, and intuitive feel to the whole unboxing experience. This ‘less is more’ approach to presentation is something that every presenter can take a leaf out of. Good presentation skills entails presenting the most important information that the listener cares about in a simple and efficient manner. Anything more is fatty information overload.

While most smartphones and computers are filled with tons of switches, buttons and ports, Apple takes great efforts to offer a clean and unobtrusive experience in the way their product feels in the hands of a customer. The industrial design team literally runs everything in the company, dictating what a product should look and feel like, while the engineering team is told to work around that aspect. This emphasis in presentation is so deeply ingrained that their methodology of engineering built around design is completely opposite to the way other companies do it. The magic is completely in the presentation skill and begins as soon as a customer picks up a product in his or her hands.

But this whole ideology began at the top with their former chief architect – Steve Jobs. Jobs was a stickler for the way a product was presented and cared deeply about it enough that he insisted on presenting most of their flagship products on stage himself. And Jobs did it masterfully. He would paint a picture that started out bleak, and then proceed to inform the audience how this new and revolutionary product could change everything. Steve Jobs was a master showman and knew exactly how to present a presentation, but also drove his company toward the art of presenting a product.

Presentation Skills Training is an important aspect of equipping employees within an organization, with the tools and skill sets required to make a great presentation by communicating ideas in an efficient manner. For more information on Presentation Skills Training, please refer to the following article on presentation skills.

There is nothing quite so promising as the enthusiasm of youth. I speak to many graduating seniors at business schools and the look in their eyes inspires me. They possess a “can do” attitude and believe that anything is possible.

I encourage these seniors to embrace negotiation as a tool to maximize first-job compensation, advance their careers and fortify relationships. Start early, while that “anything is possible” mindset is fresh and alive. “But wait” they say, “I have no professional track record. I haven’t ‘done’ anything yet”.

Whether you are new to the work-world or not, we all bring some differentiation that can win us that job or that deal. This difference is “your leverage zone”. In negotiation we use those strengths to convince the other side that our deal, our program, our product or our “self” is the one they need. Here are 3 powerful strategies anyone can use in any negotiation:

1 – Get in Your Leverage zone. Find and use those strengths that the “other side” needs. For example in a first-job interview:

• Do research, then offer up growth ideas. It shows not only initiative and creativity, but differentiation. Most people won’t or don’t do this.
• Find a parallel between your college activities and the business you’re pursuing. Employers care less about your lack of experience (they know it); they’re more interested in what you will do once hired. Make that connection. Again, most people don’t.

2 – Embrace the Process. To negotiate successfully, you must commit to a disciplined, data-driven approach. That means “aggressive preparation” every time. We use information, creativity, insight, documentation and practice to gain strength and achieve great outcomes.

3 – Ya’ Gotta Ask. Most people simply don’t ask for what they need in a negotiation. Ask! It’s amazing what happens when you do.

I believe in “windows of optimism”. Right after college, most of us believe the “world is our oyster”. We’re infused with fresh ideas, excitement and a passion to get started. There’s an edge to our psyche. Over time the reality of life will polish off some of that edge, but if you use negotiation early on to gain your best deal while strengthening relationships…you will achieve success sooner.

When we realize that virtually every aspect of our business and personal life requires negotiation, the benefit of being a better, more efficient negotiator is clear.

Negotiating skills are not usually part of our formal education, though we use these skills all day, every day. These skills are at the very core of both our professional and personal lives. It doesn’t matter if we run General Motors or the corner snowball stand or our households, we all have to communicate and convince effectively.

What is negotiation, anyway? Negotiating can be explained as simply as “working side by side with other to achieve some beneficial result.” Luckily, it is a practical skill that can be learned. It is not a genetic trait we’re born with, like blue eyes or black hair. So no matter what our age or our position in life, if we develop a certain attitude about negotiating, pay attention to honing our skills, then our life will run smoother.

Some things to remember when developing a negotiating strategy:

o Act collaboratively, not competitively. It is not “me against you.” When we see the other person as a bargaining partner, we are aware that everyone must come away with a benefit. It is a big mistake to think someone is going to give you something for nothing. So try to determine what it is the other person might want, in exchange for what you want. And then present your case to show them that, if they will help you get what you need, you will help them get what they need. Make “Mutual Benefit” your mantra.

o Personalize the situation; deal as individuals, not as institutions or corporations. You are not talking to “the Tchula bank” but to Charlie Smith, the person sitting in front of you, who represents the bank. Flesh and blood Charlie Smith. Realize that you negotiate on behalf of yourself, representing the company. When you see the other person in this light, you are able to look them in the eye. This eye contact

o Increase your expectations. You usually get what you expect to get. If you don’t think you will get the promotion, you probably won’t. If you don’t think you will land the contract, you probably won’t. There is no way you will put your best effort forward if you think, in the back of your mind, you won’t succeed anyway. So you might as well act as if you expect to get whatever it is you want. You will be pleasantly surprised when you do! You see, when you truly expect to get what it is you are seeking, others see this in you.

o Know what you want. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But surprisingly, there are many times when we go in to a negotiating session saying, “Let’s see what they offer us.” Why let the other person decide what you will get? Nobody knows your business or your life as you do. Being able to state specific proposals gives you strength.

o Stay focused on the real issues. Decide what you absolutely want to come away with; what extra’s it would be nice to come away with; and what you can do without if you need to give them up to reach an agreement. Why do you need to determine these things in advance? Because in the “heat of battle” you won’t be able to focus on these issues so easily, and you could be very surprised at what you didn’t get or at what you gave away.

o Prepare. Do you homework; thoroughly research the person or company with which you’ll be dealing. Is the company an innovative one or a staid one? Is the person with whom you are negotiating known for being creative or for being more traditional? With all the information available on the Internet today, there is virtually nothing we can’t find out beforehand. Whether we are researching a corporation or a person. Just Google-ing someone is likely to bring up something we didn’t know. And of course, there is the old-fashioned way: just ask. Ask industry colleagues (non-competing ones) or acquaintances. It should not surprise you how much people like to talk about what and who and how much they know!

o Make time your ally. Try to know your counterpart’s deadline without giving away yours. Why? Because if I know your deadline to solve a problem or come to an agreement, I can stall any decision up to the point I know you have to make a decision. Most concessionary behavior and settlement action occur close to someone’s deadline; don’t let it be yours.

These are just a few of the many points necessary to knowing more about the negotiating process. Will practicing negotiation skills take time and effort? Of course. But becoming a more efficient, smarter negotiator will bring you many rewards in both your professional and personal life.

If negotiations have stalled you cannot stop trying to reach the bargaining goal you have set for yourself. You must keep seeking accommodation. However, sometimes during some negotiations the parties simply cannot agree on the points they seek. If you determine that resolution is possible but difficult, follow these steps and you will find your chances of success greatly increased.

First, ask open-ended questions. This means you should ask questions that cannot be answered in one or two words, especially “yes” or “no.” If you ask “Did you?” your counter-party in the negotiations can answer with “yes” or “no” and you should avoid that. A short answer allows the person answering to withdraw inside himself or herself and avoid opening up psychologically.

If they are allowed to continue to do this it will affect the pattern of negotiation they take. They will tend to refuse accommodation. They will be short even on questions they could answer fully. This will means you will not “enter into their world.” You will not be able to get an adequate appraisal of their goals. Remember, they will not openly, honestly, tell you what they want to get out of the negotiation.

Then, listen intently to the answers you receive. Ask yourself whether the answers you get are to be fully trusted. Is your negotiation counter-party opening up so as to let you appraise what goals are sought? For you to be truly involved in the negotiation you must know what the counter-party seeks. How can you learn the subtle nuances regarding your counter-parties’ goals if you only get “yes” or “no” answers? Open-ended questions allow you to learn more.

Next, clarify what the counter-party says. Listen to determine fully what is the significance of this answer? Repeat what your counter-party says to verify what apparently is intended so you can learn whether this is a goal of the counter-party. Ask the counter-party to fill out his or her answers with more explanation.

Next, you should tailor your questions to fit the answers you get and to move the discussions out in the open. The information you get you will give you the power to determine whether there is any agreement possible. This power is useful to you and you should not shy away from acquiring it. I do not mean you should abuse the power, just that you should take it if possible.

This power is a factor of negotiations and you ought to know about it. You ought to try to use it. When you ask open-ended questions you are able to learn much more about the story of your negotiations. There will be a better flow to the negotiation and allow greater exchange. You will ultimately be better off with this information acquired. Even though this power is important many are afraid to seize it because they are generally reluctant to take any power.

Next, try to steer questions toward the area favoring your positions. This will gain additional power and allow additional openness. When you share your information with your counter-party it will encourage openness and will allow additional information to come forth. This, of course, will bring more openness to the discussions.

Negotiating the home purchase requires different strategies. Nearly, everyone has his or her own negotiation approach as seen from the multiple books written on this subject. You may not find a wrong or right technique for negotiating, provided you have the fundamentals down.

The major difference when it comes to negotiation is the ego and personality of the parties engaged in it. That said, I thought of jotting down the best home purchase negotiation tips that have worked for me over the years in the real estate business.

Excellent Tips for Negotiating the Home Purchase

Here are several tips to help you negotiate the cost of that house down.

Be Armed with Information

In most cases, buyers make offers to purchase homes without considering the wants or needs of sellers. Through asking more questions regarding the situation of the seller, a buyer and his agent will be able to know the key elements of the deal that will best enable them to get approval for a lower price. Apart from gathering more facts about the seller, you also need to find more details regarding the personality of the seller and his selling agent.

While this may sound like extra work, obtaining such information will give the buyer more insight on what motivates the seller. To get this information, you may need to ask questions such as: How did the seller come up with the asking price?

When, where and why is the seller planning to move? Do they have a defiant, competitive or cooperative personality that expects a win-win transaction? Finding answers to these queries will help you to structure the offer in order to reach at a highly favorable selling price.

Approach the Seller in Person

During those good old days, before the introduction of emails and fax machines, buyers could present their offers directly to sellers or their agents. Research from real estate experts shows that presenting your case in person to the seller really increases the possibility of him accepting your offer. However, if you have your agent, you should train her or him to approach the seller in person.

Elaborate the Value of the Offer to Your Seller

You can vividly explain the offer’s value if the value is actually there; the value is not always related to the offer price. A number of other considerations may also cause the seller to give in and lower the cost. These include a longer or quicker closing date, a bigger earnest deposit, a different form of financing, and fewer contingencies. Evidence obtained from market analysis indicating that the price is below the asking price will also enhance your offer during the negotiation.

Do not Share Excessive Information

When shopping for a suitable home, avoid sharing excessive details with the potential seller. For instance, if the seller realizes that you find his home to be extremely glamorous, they may not be ready to negotiate and lower the cost. Besides, it is imprudent to contend that you are in haste to get a home or some other reason regarding your reason for intending to buy the home. Doing this may give your seller a major advantage.

Walk Away When You Should

In the negotiation process, it is essential that you know your limits and know when you should walk away from the deal. Do not allow your emotions to overtake the process until you become ready to pay more than the actual cost of the house. If your seller is not ready to cooperate in terms of negotiating the price, then you should consider walking away from the entire deal and search for more options.

Work with the Buyer’s Agent

It is quintessential that you work with an exclusive agent. His duties are to uphold your interest and protect you during the home purchase transaction. The agent will elaborate to you the terms of the contract. Essentially, the agent can negotiate such that you pay for the lowest buying price for the home that you plan to buy.

When looking for the agent, consider their certification, experience and any other real estate credentials. You need to engage someone competent enough to help you negotiate aggressively and buy your dream home.

Be Well Prepared

Before engaging into negotiation, study the market so that you present your offer based on the latest market prices. You should find out any homes recently sold in the same area or nearby and compare those with the house you intend to buy. You should then compare selling and asking prices of those houses. If you do this, you will know the right offer to make.

Moreover, prepare the funds too. That way, the seller will certainly take your negotiation seriously when you present the offer. You also need to get ready for making counter offers. While sellers want great value for their houses, they may not have an upper hand. If you realize his price is unrealistic, you should be prepared to consider another option.

Know the Condition of the House

Before the negotiation, inspect the house and know what requires repair and the possible prices. For example, if the house requires painting or a new roof, you need to raise this to your seller and convince him to make possible deductions for maintenance. You can compare the house with other homes that you know and that way, the seller will know that you are considering other homes as well.

Do not Show Your Interest in the Property

Moreover, do not get attached to the house in any way. Try as much as you can not to show your seller that you have fallen in love with the property. Some sellers can really sense when a buyer is so interested in buying their home and if they sense that, negotiating will be a harrowing experience.

Generally, succeeding in negotiating when buying a home requires that you prepare thoroughly, come with the buyer’s agent, know how to approach the seller, do more research, and be ready to walk away.

If you observe all the tips explained in this here then your chances of winning a negotiation for a new home will be high, as you will certainly convince the seller to accept your offer.

We all negotiate. Every day involves negotiations with our family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances – even complete strangers. Because of this constant practice, it wold be reasonable to assume that we become good negotiators – and many of us are. But there are very few great negotiators. What are the differences between good and great when it comes to negotiation?

Focus

Good negotiators focus on what they want. They have researched and analysed the possibilities, prioritised the issues and estimated their ability to compromise on each one. They put their offers powerfully and persuasively. Great negotiators focus on what the other side wants from the negotiation. They probe why each request is made and what the other side is trying to achieve in the negotiation. They realise that by looking deeper into their demands, you can often find ways that you can help them achieve their aims that you had never considered before. This allows you to bring additional value to the negotiation table.

First Contact

Good negotiators work hard to create a good first impression. They realise the importance of relationship building to the success of the negotiation. They know that the better each side understands each other, the more chance they have of reaching a mutually-beneficial agreement. Great negotiators realise the importance of the ‘pattern interrupter’. While they try to make a positive first impression, they recognise the power – and the danger – of patterned thinking. As negotiators, we are often the victims of the last person they negotiated with. If the last person they negotiated with was slippery, deceptive and manipulative it is likely that they will treat you the same. To create a positive attitude, you have to break this patterned thinking – make them realise that you are different and deserve a different approach.

Initial Stance

Good negotiators are prepared to start the bargaining either way. Like a well-trained football team, they are prepared to start the game by kicking-off or by receiving. The reality is, though, most would prefer the other side to make the first offer because that gives an insight into the other side’s expectations. Who knows? They may make an offer way higher than you expected. Great negotiators are more prepared to go first. They realise the power of ‘anchoring’. A first offer acts as an anchor – setting the frame and influencing what the final agreement will be. Research has shown that those who go first in a negotiation have a better than average chance of getting the best deal.

Perception

Good negotiators asses the value of their offer compared to what the other side is offering. They use whatever independent references are available to establish this value. Great negotiators recognise that they need to aim for the highest perceived value to the other side. They know that, in negotiation, perception is reality. For example, you may take the reliability of your supply as a given as you have never failed to deliver. But for a customer who has been disadvantaged by lack of supply in the past, reliability of supply has very high perceived value.

Research

Good negotiators research the other side thoroughly. Great researches don’t just do their own homework. They do the homework of the other side. They research themselves just as the other side would. This makes sure there is little chance of them mentioning something that you didn’t know they knew. This will compromise your confidence in your research which will impact on how forcefully you can put your offer. Surprises diminish confidence.

Non-Committal Space

Good negotiators assess the other side’s reaction to their offer based not just on what they say, but on their non-verbal communication. They put an offer and watch the reaction of all members of the other negotiating team. Great negotiators are able to assess the other side’s reaction to an offer without actually putting their offer on the table. The trouble with the former approach is that you have to put the offer to get the reaction. And once it is on the table it cannot be withdrawn. Great negotiators create a safe ‘non-committal’ space for the other side with lines like”: “I’m not asking for any commitment, but what would you think if we incorporated this.”

Time Pressure

Good negotiators understand the power of time pressure. They know the side under the most time pressure will be most likely to compromise. Great negotiators pro-actively use time pressure. They know the power of deadlines in negotiation. Until the deadline is in sight, you won’t get the other side to put up their best offer. If they don’t know how long the negation will last, they will always hold something back because they don’t want to run out of bargaining chips before you do. Where possible, great negotiators time-limit their offers. In a world of great uncertainty, negotiation skills become more important.

Apply these lessons from great negotiators and create brilliant deals.