International Negotiations

3 

 2.14 

Trainees listen to the recording to take notes. Point out that they will only have time 

to note down a few key words for each Principle, which they can then use later to reconstruct 

the key information.

If you have an odd number of trainees, you could have a group of three, where each trainee 

makes notes on four of the Principles: 1, 2, 4 and 5; 2, 3, 5 and 6; and 1, 3, 4 and 6. Note 

that two trainees will be making notes on each Principle.

Extension activity

Trainees work in small groups to identify examples of some of the six Principles in action 

from the first seven modules of this book. Afterwards, open up the discussion to include 

the whole class. Note that not all of the Principles are illustrated in the book.

Suggested answers

•  The Jingle All the Way role play in Module 2A is a good illustration of the Scarcity 

Principle (i.e. both men wanted the toy even more because there was only one left). 

However, it is also a very powerful example of the Principle of Consistency: both fathers 

felt obliged to buy the toy because they had earlier promised it to their sons. See 

chapter 3 of Cialdini’s book for an analysis of how toy manufacturers use this Principle 

(along with Scarcity) to generate intense desire for their products.

•  The ‘dream team’ negotiation in Module 1B emphasises the importance of Authority: by 

including older and more senior members of the team, you are in a stronger position to 

influence others.

•  Authority is also used in the car sales negotiation (Module 7C), where the sales 

representative uses his manager as the final decision-maker, based on the assumption 

that no one will challenge the decision of the manager.

•  All the relationship-building work in Module 2 is intended to make use of the Principle of 

Liking.

•  Reciprocity may seem at odds with the idea that you should always trade concessions, 

rather than giving something first (see Module 7A, for example). One reason is that 

experienced negotiators may be able to see through and resist obvious techniques, so 

they may backfire.

4 

Trainees compare notes in pairs and discuss the questions together. You could play the 

recording a second time for trainees to check their notes and then feed back to the class 

before checking the commentary on page 74.

5 

Trainees discuss the question in pairs and then share their ideas with the class.

6 

Trainees discuss the ten statements in pairs. When you go through the answers with the 

class, allow some flexibility: if trainees can justify their answers, this may be just as valuable as 

finding ‘the correct answer’.