Successful negotiation includes more than verbal communication. But the better you master the following communication skills tips, the higher the chances are that you will succeed.
Whether you are negotiating for a vast business upgrade with influential stakeholders or just a place where you’ll eat with your partner, the following communication skills tips will get you what you want!
#1. Be Clear With BATNA (and WATNA)
Let’s start with the negotiation theory – BATNA, which is one of the tips to improve communication skills. It stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. In simple words, BATNA is your safe bet, what you expect to get if the negotiations fail. WATNA stands for Worst Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
Your best communication skills tips include clearly defining BATNA. If you start negotiations without knowing your BATNA, you are at high risk of going blindly into the negotiation process. We can take the salary negotiations for example.
Let’s say you are negotiating a salary for a new job, and you would like a salary of $6.000 per month. But, ask yourself what you would accept instead? It might be a salary of $5.000 with a 20% bonus twice per year. That is your BATNA.
If the job interview is your only option and you need money ASAP, your WATNA is getting without it. If you reveal it to the interviewer, it can offer you a lower salary knowing that you cannot afford to say no.
Keep BATNA and WATNA on your mind to direct the conversation, as one of the tips to improve communication skills, as it suits you the most, but never reveal them to your interviewer. It helps you communicate without pressure, which gives you more chances for success.
#2 Reveal the Emotions
If you can control your emotions and utilize them during communication, emotions are a winning tool. In the next communication skills tips we will examine the role of emotions.
Before we go deeper into the emotion-related tactic, remember one thing – No fake emotions. Don’t pretend that you care about things you don’t care about, as most people will see right through you. Instead, be natural, let the emotions poke through your communication, and focus on expressing positive emotions. Those can include enthusiasm, excitement, happiness, etc.
Verbalizing your emotions is one of the tips to improve communication skills. For example, clearly saying I am excited to close this deal finally leaves no option for the confusion! The other side won’t mistake your excitement for anxiety which can leave the wrong effect. Anxiety can make you look like a desperate person or too pushy, which gives leverage to the opposite side.
Sharing and verbalizing positive emotions helps you build trust, a solution to successful negotiations.
Anger is one of the fascinating emotions you can use in negotiations. Fake anger will let the other side believe you don’t care enough about the outcome, which will result in an unyielding approach.
If you express your anger because the deal isn’t closing, you’ll leave the impression that you are serious about your offer. As one of the communication skills tips, clearly and assertively, without powerful words that indicate negative emotions, such as hate, bad, damage, failure, misery, etc.
#3 Allow People to Gain Back control
The next tactic has a stronghold in psychology more than any other. The premise is that all people like to be in control. You have probably noticed that most people prefer the option they suggested. Not only does it reveal their preferences, but it also gives them the feeling of control and freedom.
The switching control tactic is one of the communication skills tips to provide something good negotiators practice.
You may insist and push the person into taking your offer, which will be counterproductive. Or, you can retreat and develop an atmosphere in which the person can decide freely on their own powerfully.
Before the retreat, you need to describe your attitude clearly. That way, the person you are negotiating with has something to analyze. Adding the subtle effect of urgency raises your chances.
Use a magic line that instantly opens all doors – but you are free to do as you decide as one of the tips to improve communication skills.
For example, if you are negotiating the price for a second-hand chair, say I can pay a maximum of $50 right now, but you’re free to ask for other offers.
Then, let the seller think about your offer and get back to you. Sometimes, the illusion of control overpowers the agreement essence, so people will sign up for almost anything as long as they feel in charge.
Final Words
Building trust is the key to successful negotiation. You can achieve that by clearly expressing your genuine emotions and not pushing the person too hard to make a decision as one of the communication skills tips.
Also, because most negotiations in everyday life come in long-term relations with people around you, trust is your long-term, effective tool to have it your way!
But, never reveal your BATNA, and use it for hidden leverage!
Have you tried any of the tactics from the list? Were they successful? I would like to know if these communication skills tips have been effective for you.
Part of communication is not just speaking, but of being fully present with the other person to fully understand what matters most to them. When you fully understand what matters most to them then you are able to communicate and express from that place. The practice of validation is so powerful and allows for a person to not only feel seen, but heard as well. Many people do not feel heard or fully seen. Fully seeing, embracing, and hearing people can help them to feel liberated and fully at peace. This has been a gift of mine for a long time. Often people come into the practice and are surprised they are fully heard and seen so clearly. If you would like to experience this type of seeing and knowing please schedule a consultation by clicking the link
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