Every salesperson and businessperson has had the experience of being close to closing a deal with a cooperative prospect, when suddenly all progress grinds to a halt. Any number of factors for the roadblock may be to blame. Maybe discussions hit a snag due to a miscommunication or a lack of understanding. Maybe one party allows their emotions to get involved in the negotiation process. Or maybe one of the parties has been dishonest about what they can and cannot deliver.

Regardless of the reason for the sudden stall in progress, the result is always frustrating because these problems usually arise after hours and hours of negotiating efforts. But hitting a glitch doesn’t have to spell disaster. When you come to an impasse in negotiations, use the following tactics to get the process back on track:

Tactic #1: Return to a Prior Agreement

When your negotiations hit a difficult snag, the easiest solution is to stop and look back at all the agreements you and your counterpart have reached so far. Returning to a prior agreement causes everyone involved to focus on the positive breakthroughs you’ve made up to the point where you hit the snag. This tactic gives both parties hope for resolving the deadlock, and is sometimes enough to nudge people into compromises.

As you review your prior successes, say, “Look how far we’ve come. We’ve worked through all these problems and settled all these terms; surely we can come up with a solution on this issue.” Encourage your counterparts to focus on the big picture, instead of hanging on to one minor point.

Tactic #2: Take a Hypothetical Approach

Every problem has a number of solutions, and you can resume progress by looking at each solution and weighing the pros and cons. Approaching a problem from a hypothetical angle enables you to zero in on the individual points causing the holdup. This tactic forces you to closely examine all the elements involved in pursuing the option, and through the process you can discover exactly what the other party doesn’t like about it.

Present the option in question to your counterpart by saying, “Imagine if we did it this way. What are all the possible consequences?” By taking this approach, you may discover a small adjustment that will make the option acceptable. It also prevents you from scrapping an option completely and returning to the drawing board in search of new solutions.

Tactic #3: Identify Negative Consequences

Sometimes difficult situations require more severe solutions. If your counterpart won’t make a decision or agree to a concession, you may be forced to identify the negative consequences they face. This tactic is the strongest of all, and can be very effective when nothing else seems to dislodge objections blocking progress.

When discussions don’t seem to be getting anywhere, you can say something like, “If we can’t settle this to my satisfaction today, I’ll be forced to get my lawyer involved.” Quite often, a statement like this will at least get their attention. By using this tactic, you let your counterpart know that you’re serious and that you won’t be hassled.

Tactic #4: Play on Your Counterpart’s Emotions

Although you’re always supposed to leave your emotions out of negotiations, your counterpart doesn’t necessarily know that. And sometimes, all you need to get action is to trigger their emotions. But use some caution with this approach, because this tactic only works on some people; others are completely oblivious to it.

When you’re extremely close to a mutually beneficial agreement but for some reason you can’t get it together, try saying, “Is this issue going to ruin our negotiations? This is making me feel bad. I hate that we can’t seem to move forward on this.” This statement, followed by silence can have a tremendous impact on your counterpart’s resolve. But some may take it as a sign of weakness on your position. So use this tactic carefully and you’ll be surprised how frequently it works.

Tactic #5: Call a Time-out

An effective way to get action when negotiations become bogged down is to take a break. This approach allows both parties to cool off and look at the situation more objectively, and it signals to your counterpart that you’re unhappy with the terms being offered. Realize that a time-out is not a final cutoff, like a take-it-or-leave-it statement, but it does let your counterpart know that you’re not willing to haggle over minor details forever.

Try saying, “We don’t seem to be making progress, so why don’t we take some time to think about what we’ve accomplished so far and consider whether or not we want to continue.” Maybe you or your counterpart will come up with a new solution during the break.

Tactic #6: Defer Issues to an Objective Third Party

As a last resort, when none of the other tactics dislodge your snag, you can always bring in a neutral third party to help clarify issues and perspectives. A third party can look at the issues and positions without bias, and propose solutions that he or she believes will benefit everyone involved.

In extreme cases, you may consider submitting to a binding arbitration, where you and your counterpart agree to let the third party decide on the terms. In this situation, you agree in advance to accept the third party’s terms, whatever they may be. But before you defer the negotiations to a third party, be sure you are in a position to live with an objective decision. If both parties agree on taking this route, an arbitrator can solve even the toughest stalemates.

Stay on Track in the Future

When all parties involved in negotiations are sincerely interested in producing mutually beneficial agreements, they are less likely to get hung up on insignificant issues. But many times, even under the best circumstances, the decision-making process in negotiations can hit a wall. Knowing what’s at stake, what the issues are, and what each party wants doesn’t always guarantee that negotiators can smooth out their differences. So when your negotiations hit a difficult snag, use these tactics to get over the negotiation impasses and resume progress toward success.

Biography

If you are just starting a new job, it can be a daunting task to give presentations. After all, everyone is watching your every move and they almost always have over the top high expectations. The last thing you want to do is mess up your production, let alone give them the wrong impression. Luckily there are many different ways for new employees to learn business etiquette.

The main goal for any company is to make their employees comfortable in their surroundings. Therefore, any intelligent leader will know that presentation training is a must. We all desperately try to avoid it, for it is not only intimidating, but an assignment that will keep us up at night with fear. Luckily, presentations skill training is a great way to help new employees settle in.

The first thing a communication training program does is teach employees the necessary skills. It is essential that a presenter connects with the audience, and shows them exactly the message they are trying to get across. Without that connection, most staff members will feel disconnected and bored. The number one goal is to get them into your world. If you are passionate and interested in the topic, chances are they will be right there with you.

The majority of presentation training courses tend to also focus on body language and what to avoid. While most employees try to hide behind presentations, these courses tell you not to. It is vital that you do not let a PowerPoint slide do the talking. These slides are merely there to back you up. After all, you are the presenter and know the subject. These people are there to listen to you, not stare at a screen all day. It is also important to keep the presentation as brief as possible. For instance, if you are trying to give a four hour slide presentation, chances are the staff will be asleep by the second hour. By giving them an interesting shorter presentation, they will be yearning for more. This way you will have their attention the entire way through.

Other business etiquette includes practice! Without a great amount of experience backing you up, giving presentations can seem like you are a deer in headlights. Presentation skills training will show you that practicing will only benefit you in the long run. The first thing you want to do is find as many opportunities to present. While this seems intimidating, it will increase your confidence and your experience. Once you have done this, it is imperative to get feedback. This can help you immensely, as people will tell you what flaws you need to fix. It will also boost your confidence if you know your strong points. Another great way to get feedback is to video tape yourself. This way you can watch your every move, and know what you have to fix.

No matter what type of new employee you are, communication training is key. A great presentation could mean generating more clients and even greater revenue. If you have a sloppy production, it may result in a lot of bad publicity. Therefore, it is important that you take presentation training seriously. If you follow the above tips, you will surely be on your way to success.

In our daily work, a presentation in front of colleagues, business partners, bosses and even potential customers is a matter of course we face everyday. Often times when we deliver our presentation in front of lots of people, we get stuck, confused what to say and can not make our presentations interesting people to follow him.

If your problem together with the usual common problem faced by almost all presenters so in this article I try to give some tips that proved to be successful making your presentation so interesting and liquid.

First is that you should make sure and understand very well that the main star in your own self-presentation is not a collection of your power point slides. Since you are the main focus then you have to really prepare for the best performance you can do. Wear appropriate clothing, polite and harmonious. Use a perfume that does not sting fragrances smell. Check your sound first, if clearly audible enough? No buzzing because of the flu and so forth.

Second is to always give you sincere smile to the audience. Greeted with polite and friendly at the beginning of your presentation. Try to stay calm, liquid and friendly. With a sincere smile will make you more trustworthy and closer to your listener.

Third, try to input elements of humor in your presentation. Usually I always show pictures or videos that funny at the beginning of my presentation. That way it can make a more fluid atmosphere, friendly and attract attention. It should be understood, the listener will usually focus on the first 18 minutes we talked. After that, their focus began to slack off for many reasons. Your task is the focus of their effort to stay awake until the end of your presentation.

Think creatively in every opportunity presentation. Remember, your task is to attract the attention of listeners so that they will continue to wake up and understand your presentation.

With the more you practice the presentation with the steps I have to say above; therefore, not too long your presentation will get better, nice and entertaining.

Just keep practicing!