The Psychological Power That Wins Every Negotiation Before You Sit Down | Ep 981

In our daily lives, we all negotiate with others for things we want, whether the context is business or personal. For instance, at work you may negotiate a contract with a supplier or a pay raise with a supervisor, while in your personal life you might negotiate with your friends about which movie you’re going to see. In any situation where you’re looking to get something from someone else, you’re engaged in a negotiation.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to negotiation, we’ve synthesized the ideas and recommendations from some of the world’s leading experts on negotiation to help give you a competitive edge the next time you sit down to bargain. We’ll explore the two main approaches to negotiation (the emotional approach and the rational approach); show you how to prepare for your negotiation; and walk you through some specific moves and countermoves to get the best deal for yourself when you’re sitting face-to-face with your counterpart.

In Negotiation Genius, negotiation experts Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman provide a comprehensive system for negotiating successfully in all areas of your life, whether you want to land a lucrative contract, get a raise, or split chores with your roommate. To be a “negotiation genius,” you must prepare extensively before a negotiation and learn to not only claim but create value. By applying the authors’ strategies, you can avoid common negotiation pitfalls, make attractive deals, and build stronger relationships.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to apply the authors’ advice to prepare, create value, and maximize satisfaction in your negotiations. We’ll also look at common obstacles negotiators face and explore ways to avoid them or use them to your advantage. Throughout the guide, we’ll compare the authors’ strategies with those of other negotiation experts and supplement their advice with additional psychological insights.

In Getting to Yes, negotiation theorists Roger Fisher and William Ury write that negotiation isn’t just for boardrooms—it’s central to your daily life. Whether you’re talking with a sibling about caring for an aging parent or discussing with your partner which streaming services to keep, you’re negotiating. Because you’re going to have to negotiate so much (even if you don’t realize it), Fisher and Ury write that it’s crucial for you to develop strong negotiation skills to navigate both your professional and personal lives successfully.

In this guide, we’ll start by exploring the traditional negotiation approach and its shortcomings. We’ll then explain Fisher and Ury’s interest-based negotiation approach—and why it’s superior to traditional negotiation. Then, we’ll cover the specific negotiation tactics you can use to put interest-based negotiation into practice, including having a fallback option, building a personal connection with your counterpart, and navigating cultural and identity differences. Throughout, we’ll supplement Fisher and Ury’s ideas with insights from other negotiation experts and theorists.

We like to think that we’re intelligent, rational beings who generally make good decisions. However, psychologist Daniel Kahneman says that in reality, the human mind is hasty, imprecise, and lazy. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman explains how we make decisions, why those decisions are often wrong, and how we can work around our natural shortcomings to make better decisions in the future.

We’ll begin by describing the “fast” and “slow” systems of thought that Kahneman identifies. Next, we’ll go over the ways our thinking tends to be sloppy and biased, and why that happens so regularly. Finally, we’ll examine Kahneman’s research into happiness, and how a better understanding of ourselves can help support our overall well-being.

In our commentary, we’ll explore some evolutionary origins of cognitive biases, look at how the biases Kahneman highlights relate to additional biases, and compare Kahneman’s insights to those from other psychologists, such as Malcolm Gladwell and Barbara Oakley.

Never Split the Difference aims to provide a comprehensive guide to negotiating theory and strategy, giving you the tools you need to negotiate successfully. Voss’s thesis is that good negotiation happens on the emotional level of the brain, not the rational level. Your job as a negotiator, Voss argues, is to practice and display empathy toward your counterpart by understanding their emotions, learning to see the situation from their point of view—and, ultimately, getting them to feel comfortable enough with you to let their emotional guard down.

In this guide, we’ve supplemented Voss’s ideas with findings from outside research and incorporated insights from other key negotiation texts—like Roger Fisher and William Ury’s Getting to Yes and Robert Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation—to give readers a more balanced and nuanced perspective on negotiation and evaluate how Voss’s findings square with those of other acknowledged experts on the field.

In our daily lives, we all negotiate with others for things we want, whether the context is business or personal. For instance, at work you may negotiate a contract with a supplier or a pay raise with a supervisor, while in your personal life you might negotiate with your friends about which movie you’re going to see. In any situation where you’re looking to get something from someone else, you’re engaged in a negotiation.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to negotiation, we’ve synthesized the ideas and recommendations from some of the world’s leading experts on negotiation to help give you a competitive edge the next time you sit down to bargain. We’ll explore the two main approaches to negotiation (the emotional approach and the rational approach); show you how to prepare for your negotiation; and walk you through some specific moves and countermoves to get the best deal for yourself when you’re sitting face-to-face with your counterpart.

Never Split the Difference aims to provide a comprehensive guide to negotiating theory and strategy, giving you the tools you need to negotiate successfully. Voss’s thesis is that good negotiation happens on the emotional level of the brain, not the rational level. Your job as a negotiator, Voss argues, is to practice and display empathy toward your counterpart by understanding their emotions, learning to see the situation from their point of view—and, ultimately, getting them to feel comfortable enough with you to let their emotional guard down.

In this guide, we’ve supplemented Voss’s ideas with findings from outside research and incorporated insights from other key negotiation texts—like Roger Fisher and William Ury’s Getting to Yes and Robert Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation—to give readers a more balanced and nuanced perspective on negotiation and evaluate how Voss’s findings square with those of other acknowledged experts on the field.

In Getting to Yes, negotiation theorists Roger Fisher and William Ury write that negotiation isn’t just for boardrooms—it’s central to your daily life. Whether you’re talking with a sibling about caring for an aging parent or discussing with your partner which streaming services to keep, you’re negotiating. Because you’re going to have to negotiate so much (even if you don’t realize it), Fisher and Ury write that it’s crucial for you to develop strong negotiation skills to navigate both your professional and personal lives successfully.

In this guide, we’ll start by exploring the traditional negotiation approach and its shortcomings. We’ll then explain Fisher and Ury’s interest-based negotiation approach—and why it’s superior to traditional negotiation. Then, we’ll cover the specific negotiation tactics you can use to put interest-based negotiation into practice, including having a fallback option, building a personal connection with your counterpart, and navigating cultural and identity differences. Throughout, we’ll supplement Fisher and Ury’s ideas with insights from other negotiation experts and theorists.

In our daily lives, we all negotiate with others for things we want, whether the context is business or personal. For instance, at work you may negotiate a contract with a supplier or a pay raise with a supervisor, while in your personal life you might negotiate with your friends about which movie you’re going to see. In any situation where you’re looking to get something from someone else, you’re engaged in a negotiation.

In Shortform’s Master Guide to negotiation, we’ve synthesized the ideas and recommendations from some of the world’s leading experts on negotiation to help give you a competitive edge the next time you sit down to bargain. We’ll explore the two main approaches to negotiation (the emotional approach and the rational approach); show you how to prepare for your negotiation; and walk you through some specific moves and countermoves to get the best deal for yourself when you’re sitting face-to-face with your counterpart.

Never Split the Difference aims to provide a comprehensive guide to negotiating theory and strategy, giving you the tools you need to negotiate successfully. Voss’s thesis is that good negotiation happens on the emotional level of the brain, not the rational level. Your job as a negotiator, Voss argues, is to practice and display empathy toward your counterpart by understanding their emotions, learning to see the situation from their point of view—and, ultimately, getting them to feel comfortable enough with you to let their emotional guard down.

In this guide, we’ve supplemented Voss’s ideas with findings from outside research and incorporated insights from other key negotiation texts—like Roger Fisher and William Ury’s Getting to Yes and Robert Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation—to give readers a more balanced and nuanced perspective on negotiation and evaluate how Voss’s findings square with those of other acknowledged experts on the field.

In Getting to Yes, negotiation theorists Roger Fisher and William Ury write that negotiation isn’t just for boardrooms—it’s central to your daily life. Whether you’re talking with a sibling about caring for an aging parent or discussing with your partner which streaming services to keep, you’re negotiating. Because you’re going to have to negotiate so much (even if you don’t realize it), Fisher and Ury write that it’s crucial for you to develop strong negotiation skills to navigate both your professional and personal lives successfully.

In this guide, we’ll start by exploring the traditional negotiation approach and its shortcomings. We’ll then explain Fisher and Ury’s interest-based negotiation approach—and why it’s superior to traditional negotiation. Then, we’ll cover the specific negotiation tactics you can use to put interest-based negotiation into practice, including having a fallback option, building a personal connection with your counterpart, and navigating cultural and identity differences. Throughout, we’ll supplement Fisher and Ury’s ideas with insights from other negotiation experts and theorists.

In Negotiation Genius, negotiation experts Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman provide a comprehensive system for negotiating successfully in all areas of your life, whether you want to land a lucrative contract, get a raise, or split chores with your roommate. To be a “negotiation genius,” you must prepare extensively before a negotiation and learn to not only claim but create value. By applying the authors’ strategies, you can avoid common negotiation pitfalls, make attractive deals, and build stronger relationships.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to apply the authors’ advice to prepare, create value, and maximize satisfaction in your negotiations. We’ll also look at common obstacles negotiators face and explore ways to avoid them or use them to your advantage. Throughout the guide, we’ll compare the authors’ strategies with those of other negotiation experts and supplement their advice with additional psychological insights.