International Negotiations

11

1A Preparing to negotiate

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5 

 1.02–1.04

  Tell trainees to read the three descriptions and to predict and discuss in pairs 

which notes may apply in each case. Make sure they fully understand all the vocabulary in the 

notes (See Language notes below). Then play the recordings for trainees to tick the correct 

notes. Finally, discuss the answers with the class.

Language notes

•  Chit-chat is a negative name for informal conversation, i.e. chat that goes on too long. 

The term small talk is a more positive way of describing informal discussions. More 

generally, the relationship-building phase of a negotiation may be described as the 

preliminaries.

•  Sales and persuasion techniques can be divided into hard-sell techniques and soft-sell 

techniques. An aggressive salesman or negotiator may use hard-sell techniques to 

persuade (or even trick) the other person to agree to something they may not actually 

want. Afterwards, the buyer may feel weak or negative, as if he/she has ‘lost’ the 

negotiation. Soft-sell techniques are more gentle. They work by making the buyer like 

and trust the seller, and at the end the buyer will feel positive about the negotiation.

•  If someone is trustworthy, he/she can be trusted.

•  If you hit on something, you find it by accident.

•  If you do something subtly 

/ˈsʌt.lˌi/

, you do not draw attention to what you are doing.

•  If someone is notorious for something, they are famous but in a negative way.

•  If an agreement is binding, it can be enforced in a court of law. In many countries, an 

agreement may be treated as a binding contract even if it is not written down or signed.

•  If you are well briefed, you are prepared, and have collected advice and information.

•  Rest assured means ‘don’t worry – you can be sure’.

•  If something is seen as premature, it happens earlier than it should.

•  If something emerges, it appears slowly and gradually, as part of a natural process.

•  If you go with the flow, you accept a situation and don’t try to fight it.

•  Vague 

/veɪg/

 proposals are not specific.