When we think of negotiations, we tend to focus on the hard negotiating skills connected with bargaining. In fact, many professional negotiators will confirm that the most important skill is effective relationship building. If there is trust and understanding between the two parties, the negotiation will be much more successful, as will the long-term business relationship between them. In this lesson students start with a quiz which leads into a reading activity. Then they look at language in dialogues and finish with a role play.

The key to successful negotiation is preparation and research. This means finding out exactly what you want from the negotiation, and why you want it. This lesson includes a discussion, vocabulary input, a reading activity, useful language for negotiation, team problem solving and a role play in pairs.

In a negotiation, it’s very important to know when to speak, when to ask and when to shut up and listen. In this lesson students rank and discuss the stages of negotiation, do a reading activity and look at negotiations vocabulary, examine question types, then finish with a role play to practise clarifying, summarising and responding.

For many people, negotiating is all about bargaining, the give-and-take between two sides. In this lesson  students  discuss bargaining in small groups, do a reading activity, focus on conditional structures and useful language then finish with a team role play.

The final stages of a negotiation don’t always go smoothly.  This lesson deals with a number of common events and situations from these closing stages. Students do a light-hearted quiz, a reading activity, a matching activity focusing on useful language and then finish with a role play.