Blog

  • Check Your Information…Then Double-Check!
    I’ve just come back from a great week in India - Goa, beautiful. It matches the Jungle Book picture we have in our heads, in a way that most of India does not. It was actually my 4th visit to the country. The last time I was there, I was...
  • What Would You Do With A Magic Wand?
    Every time I run a negotiations skills course, I start the day by asking the delegates what  they want to get from the programme. And pretty much every time, what they are looking for is a magic wand. This is true on an Introduction Course and on Advanced Course. Fortunately,...
  • Coaching the Next Generation
      Sometimes I love my job. On Friday, I spent the day up at Oxford with the Emerge Venture Lab mentoring programme. It was an amazing day.   These were a high-calibre bunch, we’re talking Rhodes Scholars and other similarly impressive people. Emerge is a spin-off from the Said Business...
  • Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’Roll & Negotiation
      The music business is all about making the deal. Let’s say you’re a band wanting to play a gig. Should be simple, eh? Well, kind of. Simple if talks between you, your manager, your agent, the promoter, the venue, the record company, the publishers, the television channel, the production...
  • If You Were A Super-Hero, What Power Would You Like To Have?
    It’s not that childish a question, actually. The world is full of remarkable people who have developed skills to a degree beyond credulity. I just spent a day at a TEDx event organised by the British newspaper The Observer. Lots of very interesting and very worthy speakers, as you would...
  • The Dragons Den Guide To Negotiation
    As one of the hats I wear in the business world, I sit on a panel that is a kind of a match-making site for financial investment. Entrepreneurs apply to this panel, we assess their suitability and provide them with appropriate coaching, and then let them pitch to investors for...
  • Homage to the best book on negotiation ever
    Apart from mine, of course! You probably know I have just written a book called “Negotiation Mastery”, available in the shops soon. In researching this, I read somewhere around 200 other books related directly or indirectly to negotiation and I thought that over the months to come I will review...
  • How To Trade A Paper-Clip For A House
    Think you’re a crack negotiator? Think you can wangle a nice deal? How about trading a paperclip for a house? Reckon you can do it? Kyle Macdonald of Vancouver did. It took him 15 trades over the period of one year but he got there. And managed to write a...
  • Learn From The King, How Would Elvis Negotiate?
    A short article this week, inspired by a story I read about Elvis. At the beginning of his career, Elvis actually had stage fright. The first time he performed to a live audience, when he was 19, he was so nervous his left leg shook visibly. Other than that, though,...
  • How To Negotiate Your Best Rate (Part 2)
    5 top tips for increasing your earnings   So you’re a professional, you’re good at your job, but when it comes to talking fees, you don’t feel so comfortable. You want to increase your rate, you feel you deserve it, but you’re not quite sure how to go about it...