International Negotiations

Extension activity

Trainees could role play some of the scenarios from exercise 8. Each role play could be 

very short – two or three minutes. Afterwards, ask some pairs to perform their mini-role 

plays for the class. The class can then discuss the effectiveness of the techniques.

International Negotiations Trainer’s Notes © Cambridge University Press 2012

www.cambridge.org/elt/internationalnegotiations

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66

8B Powers of persuasion

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8C

Powers of persuasion

Quote

Trainees read the quote to find four general types of possibly unethical behaviour and two 

specific examples. Make sure everyone understands words such as stretch the truth (= 

exaggerate without actually lying) and budge (= move, show flexibility).

Answers

•  General behaviours: lying; deceptive negotiating tactics; hiding true intentions; 

stretching the truth.

•  Specific examples: imposing an artificial deadline; deceptively communicating you will 

not budge on an issue.

1 

Trainees discuss the questions in small groups. If they are not experienced negotiators, they 

could use examples from the news, or from films or books, or invent their own examples. 

When they have finished, ask some volunteers to tell their stories to the class.

2 

Trainees discuss the questions in small groups. After a few minutes, open up the discussion to 

include the whole class. Finally, tell trainees to read the commentary on page 75 to compare 

it with their ideas.

Language note

The idiom it’s all part of the game comes from sports. It means that negative aspects of a 

sport (e.g. injuries or unfair decisions in football) cannot be avoided, so players need to be 

prepared for them.

3 

Trainees discuss the tactics in pairs and then feed back to the class. Make sure everyone 

understands all the key words (e.g. cop = policeman; off limits = you may not go there). Avoid 

confirming their ideas at this stage, as this would undermine exercise 4.