Host Rebecca Dollinger of Your Voice Matters interviews Janice Curry, professional negotiator for Texas Instruments. Janice says that everyone is a negotiator all the time.
Negotiation requires preparation. Research is essential to consider all avenues before you go in for negotiation to make sure you are ready and to understand the other person’s point-of-view. You must have a lot of confidence which comes down to preparation. You must also know what your walk away should look like and strive for a win-win for both parties. Go in with a goal to win, but be kind.
Janice says to consider playing poker to learn bluffing. Women are very good negotiators because of their soft skills, particularly reading body language. Negotiating over a conference call reduces the ability to see the body language and therefore is not as advantageous as in person meetings. Tone and inflection of voice is also a very important part of negotiation. During stressful moments, take a breath or take a break.
Humor can be a good way to keep things calm or relaxed, but it can go either way and you have to be careful about how you use humor and pay attention to the body language of the other party.
Power of the pause helps when you are nervous or don’t know what to say or if you want to see how they will respond. Pause as long as it takes. Women tend to want to fill in the blanks. When you pause, you are observing or listening.
Sometimes things don’t go the way you originally planned, which is why it is important to have an alternate plan. Especially when dealing with other cultures, it is important to understand what is customary and acceptable when negotiating in order not to offend anyone. When negotiating with family members, the best thing you can do is to touch them to get their attention.
For guest and sponsorship information, contact Rebecca at tailored2you@rebeccastylewriter.com or 214-729-6307.