Negotiating with anyone that’s tough can be bedeviling. If you’re bedeviled when negotiating against tough negotiators (hard nose), inconsistent negotiators (say one thing and do another), and/or with those with whom you’re very close to (friends, associates), you can have a devil of a time negotiating with such people and still win.

The following are tips, tactics, and techniques you can use when negotiating in situations that can be devilish.

Tips:

When negotiating with friends, the negotiation can be deviling because you may not want to risk the friendship due to a hard negotiation. This in turn can cause you to acquiesce to requests that you otherwise wouldn’t commit to.

Negotiation Tip: When negotiating with friends, close associates, or those that you place more value on the relationship versus the outcome of the negotiation, set the groundwork for the negotiation ahead of time. This is something that you’d normally do when framing the negotiation (setting the agenda as to what will be discussed). With people that fall into the categories mentioned, take extra care in framing the negotiation by informing your friend or associate that you really don’t want to get into a give and take, because you place more value in the relationship. Thus, you don’t want harm to befall it. You can also jokingly say, “… and I don’t want you to take advantage of me, either”. With the negotiation stage set from that perspective, both of you should be able to negotiate amicably and do so while preserving the relationship. By framing the negotiation from this perspective, you will have taken the potential devil out of the negotiation.

Tactics:

I’ll discuss two tactics that you can employ when negotiating with someone that bedevils you. One is mirroring, the other is appearing to be led while leading, or leading from behind. These two tactics are closely tied to one another.

You employ the mirroring, or leading from behind tactic by mimicking the requests, actions, and tactics of the other negotiator. If he’s being devilish in the negotiation, he’ll quickly recognize that you’re replicating his actions. This will have one of two effects on him. One, he’ll realize that he’s in for a very long negotiation that might be a waste of his time, as long as he maintains his negotiation tactic. Two, he’ll recognize the devil in you and change his tactics. In either case, you will have altered his perspective, which will be to your advantage.

Techniques:

When negotiating with someone that employs tough (I win, you lose) techniques, play hard ball (don’t give anything unless you get something of value). With this type of personality, if you display weakness, more than likely you’ll be treated like a lamb and be led to slaughter.

While the negotiation may be daunting, if the purpose of the negotiation is worth the effort, stay engaged. Watch the time you invest in the negotiation. The more time you invest, the more you’re likely to stay engaged for the conclusion of the negotiation. Doing so could cause you to make concessions that are not beneficial to your position.

You may not be able to turn all of your bedeviling negotiations into angels, but by adopting the suggestions above, you can make your negotiations more heavenly… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

The audience was waiting for the company president to say something. The chatter stopped and the sound of the room was hushed. Only the sound of the projector hummed above the hushed pulsating breathing of the crowd. The CEO stood tall behind the lectern quietly looking at the crowded room for about 30 seconds then stepped away to the side of the lectern opened his arms wide and said “Thank you for being on my team”

That president received a standing ovation before he even started his presentation.
He combined the power of pausing with a good opening.

When was the last time you found yourself hanging on the words of a speaker?

If you want to add more power to your keynote or workshop presentations learn how to PAUSE.
You can pause after you have made a point to allow it to marinate in the minds of your listeners. You can also pause before you continue your presentation to arouse the anticipation of your listener.

Pausing is a skill. Like all skills, it takes practice.

Consider practicing the following:

1. Pause before you say anything at the beginning of your presentation for a few seconds. Center yourself, breath and make eye contact with your audience.

Not only will this help you to relax but also it will arouse the curiosity of your audience. I would not suggest a real long pause because the audience may wonder if you are ill.

2. Pause about a few seconds after you tell the punch line of a joke, make a startling statement, or make a call to action.

If you have told a joke, it allows time for your audience to laugh. If you make a startling statement, it will provide time it to sink into the minds of your listeners. In addition, if you make a call to action the pause will allow time for your audience to respond.

3. Pause as you make a change from one topic to the next.

So often a speaker may speed up their pace because of time pressures. As a result, they may make transitions from one topic to the next without their audience realizing it.

Remember also, that it is far better to use pauses instead of filler words like uhms or ok, and everything, etc.

Do not be afraid of the silence it is a rare event these days. Instead, use PAUSE POWER the next time you present!

It is known that public speaking can be something that many people seem to struggle with. There are several types of public speaking, starting from the simple one like answering the questions in front of the class of college students, until giving presentation in front of public. Whatever the mission, there are several ways that you can take a look for speaking and giving a good presentation.

Firstly, if you are going to have a presentation in front of the audience with prior knowledge, the most important thing that you need to keep in mind is to be prepared. You have to study the materials that you will share with the audience.

Secondly, you need to know your audience. You have to exactly know whether you are going to give presentation for male group, female group, or others. Knowing the audience will determine on how you are going to deliver your presentation. For instance, if you are going to give a presentation to a group of 7 years old children about safety seat belt, you should avoid using horrible bloody pictures which can make them scary. Thus, it is very important to choose appropriate material for the appropriate audience.

Thirdly, you have to make eye contact with the audience. You need to try to not always read your notes or slides, which can make the lack of eye contact with your audience. The lack eye contact can also potential to make your audience get bored watching you read the notes during the presentation. So, you have to make sure that you give eye contact to your audience and try to make some jokes if possible.

Lastly, you need to learn about breathing techniques. By learning the techniques of breathing, you will know how to control your speaking speed so that you can speak naturally on your presentation.