Career Negotiation, Negotiating in Life June 24, 2009

Be More Persuasive

Perhaps one of the most valuable talents/skills that a negotiator should have is being persuasive. After all, if you can’t persuade other people to consider your side you won’t get very far.

Here are a few negotiation tips to increase your power of persuasion.

Focus on the other person’s positive attributes

Find an attribute you like about the other person and then compliment her/him on it. This tip comes from a Harvard Business blog:

Be sincere, genuine and likeable

This tip comes from Pat Price in Best Management Articles:

Ask questions rather than make statements

This tip comes from Calvin Sun in the Tech Republic:

Dr. Chester Karrass, in his book Give and Take, suggests the following:

• Start with easy to settle issues rather than the more charged ones
• Deliver good news before bad news
• Emphasize where you are in agreement
• Present both sides of the issue
• Pay attention to your end argument, since it is the one the other person will remember the most
• State your conclusions explicitly
• Repeat your message to create acceptance

What persuades you?