Negotiating Tips, Negotiation Strategies, Business Negotiation September 17, 2010

What's your story?

Storytelling—the telling of stories—is not just for playtime in school anymore. Increasingly, storytelling has become an important tool for business, especially in marketing. Further, effective storytelling can be used in a business negotiation setting as well.

Quite simply, storytelling is the finding and usage of a narrative that supports your position.

For instance, if you are at a networking function, you probably have developed an “elevator pitch.” An elevator pitch is a story about you or your organization that can be told in a minute or so. Your story will highlight certain aspects about your background or business, which you want to make sure people know about you or your business.

In business negotiations, you can use storytelling in two areas:

1. To motivate, inspire and lead your negotiation team
2. To explain and persuade the other party during a negotiation

As the Mindtools website says about business storytelling:

There's no doubt that stories can change the way we think, act, and feel. Leaders, especially, can use the power of a good story to influence and motivate their teams to new heights. Stories can inspire everything from understanding to action.

In order for your story to have real impact, Mindtools suggests the following:

• Be authentic
• Be mindful of who your audience is
• Practice telling your story

Read the entire article here to get more tips and links to resources.

The next time you are preparing for a business negotiation, ask yourself: what is the story I want to tell? What do I want the other party/my team to know?