Preparing to negotiate

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Useful phrases for planningVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Listen: Layla's rush jobListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10What does it mean?Grammar exercise
11. 11Notice: Rafael's planGrammar exercise
12. 12Conditions without ifGrammar rule
13. 13Choose the right expressionGrammar exercise
14. 14Julia's email to the hotelGrammar exercise
15. 15Build the sentencesGrammar exercise
16. 16Say it naturallySpeaking practice
17. 17Plan it, then test itSpeaking practice
18. 18Let's discussDiscussion
19. 19Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: Divya's termsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: yes, with conditionsDiscussion

Words

• objective/əbˈdʒektɪv/

  something that you plan to achieve; a goal (your main objective: the thing you want most)

• party/ˈpɑːrti/

  a person or group on one side of an agreement, a negotiation or a legal case

• BATNA/ˈbætnə/

  your best alternative to a negotiated agreement: what you will do if the two sides can't agree

• walk-away point/ˈwɔːk əweɪ ˌpɔɪnt/

  the worst deal you will accept (the lowest price, or the highest cost) before you end a negotiation

• deal-breaker/ˈdiːl breɪkər/

  one thing that would make you say no to a whole deal

• nice-to-have/ˌnaɪs tə ˈhæv/

  something you would like to get, but don't really need

• leverage/ˈlevərɪdʒ/

  power to influence the other side, for example because they need the deal more than you do

• wiggle room/ˈwɪɡl ruːm/

  a little freedom to change a price, a plan or a decision (informal)

• going rate/ˌɡoʊɪŋ ˈreɪt/

  the usual price or pay for a job or a service at the moment

• do your homework/ˌduː jər ˈhoʊmwɜːrk/

  to prepare carefully, by finding out the facts before something important

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about negotiating at work.

1. What do you negotiate at work, even in small ways: deadlines, budgets, prices or who does what?
2. Think of the last time you asked for something important at work. How did you prepare for it?
3. Who is the best negotiator you know? What makes them so good at it?

Grammar rule

Conditions without if

Expression	Meaning	Example
as long as · provided (that) · providing (that)	only if: this must be true	Interns can work from home on Fridays as long as their manager agrees. The landlord will repaint the office, provided that we sign for three years.
on condition that (also: on the condition that)	only if: a firm requirement (formal)	The investors will put in $2 million on condition that both founders stay for three years.
in case	as a precaution, because something might happen	In case the train is late, I've downloaded the slides to my phone.
in case of + noun	if there is (formal: signs, rules, contracts)	In case of a power outage, the servers switch to battery.
otherwise	if not (it refers back to the sentence before)	Back up your files every day; otherwise, one broken laptop could cost you a week of work.

Notes

Present for the future. After as long as, provided, on condition that and in case, use the present simple for a future condition: as long as their manager agrees (not will agree). In a story about the past, use the past: Layla would start on Monday on condition that they paid half upfront.

Which one? as long as is the most common in speech; provided (that) is a little more formal; on (the) condition that is formal and strong, for a firm requirement. In American English, on the condition that is very common too. unless (unit 7) means if … not.

Word order. The condition can come first, with a comma: As long as their manager agrees, interns can work from home on Fridays. otherwise starts a new sentence or comes after a semicolon, usually with a comma after it. (otherwise can also mean "in other ways": The room is small but otherwise perfect.)

in case is not the same as if. "Call me if the client is late" = call me when it happens. "Here's my number in case the client is late" = take it now, because it might happen.