What is Negotiation & Persuasion

In short

Negotiation isn't smooth talking or sneaky tricks. It's the boring, careful work of finding a deal that's better for both sides than walking away with nothing.

1. 01Your salary, your rent, your deadline, your boundary with a difficult relative, all negotiations, all the time.
2. 02Most people massively under-negotiate. A 10% higher starting salary, compounded across a career, is more money than most lottery winners take home.
3. 03You get better outcomes without setting the relationship on fire, because long-term trust is part of the win.
4. 04You spot bad-faith tactics when they're aimed at you, instead of feeling weirdly cornered after the meeting.

Two sisters are fighting over the last orange in the fruit bowl. They both want it. They settle for the classic compromise, cut it in half. One sister squeezes her half for juice and throws away the peel. The other grates her half for the peel to bake a cake, and throws away the fruit. They both got half of what they wanted. If either of them had asked the other "why do you want the orange?", they'd both have walked away with twice as much. That's the entire trick: positions are what people say they want; interests are why. Trade on interests and almost every deal gets bigger.

• Anchoring→Human PsychologyFirst-number bias is the most powerful single tool in negotiation.
• Specificity→Communication & StorytellingSpecific asks land. 'A fair raise' doesn't.