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Negotiation Skills for Everyday Life
A practical, framework-driven course that teaches you to prepare, anchor, and close everyday negotiations. You will apply real methods to salary, bills, big purchases, and contracts.
For anyone who wants to negotiate everyday situations with more confidence and better results, no sales background required.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns every framework from the course into fill-in tools, scripts, and checklists you can use on a real negotiation this week. Work through each section alongside its matching module, then keep the templates handy for salary talks, bill calls, big purchases, and contracts. The more honestly you fill in your BATNA and numbers before you negotiate, the better your results will be.
The Foundations: How Negotiation Actually Works
Build the preparation habits that every confident negotiator relies on before the conversation starts.
Worksheet: Pre-Negotiation Prep Sheet
Pick one real, upcoming negotiation. Fill in every field below before you start the conversation. Leave nothing blank — vague preparation produces vague results.
- What I am negotiating (one sentence)
- My underlying interests (what I actually need, beyond price)
- My BATNA (my best alternative if this falls through)
- How strong is my BATNA on a 1-10 scale, and how can I improve it
- My reservation price (my walk-away number)
- My target (ambitious but defensible) and the data that supports it
- Estimated ZOPA (the band where a deal is possible)
- The counterpart's likely interests and pressures
Exercise: Find Your BATNA
Use the four-step process from the course (brainstorm, develop, select, improve) to turn a vague fallback into a concrete, written alternative.
- List every alternative you have if this deal does not happen, including doing nothing.
- Circle the single strongest alternative — that is your BATNA.
- Write one specific action you could take this week to make that alternative stronger (a second quote, a backup offer, a competing listing).
- Given that BATNA, what is the worst deal you would still rationally accept?
Checklist: Am I Ready to Negotiate?
- I have written down my interests, not just my position.
- I have a concrete BATNA, not a vague hope.
- I have set a reservation price and will not move it in the moment.
- I have an ambitious target backed by at least one data source.
- I have estimated the ZOPA and confirmed a deal is plausible.
- I have planned to stay soft on the person and hard on the problem.
The Conversation: Tactics That Move People
Rehearse the specific verbal moves that lower resistance, gather information, and shift the numbers.
Exercise: Write Your Tactical-Empathy Lines
Draft the exact words you will use for one specific negotiation. Practising them out loud beforehand makes them feel natural in the moment.
- Write one label that names the other side's likely feeling (start with "It sounds like" or "It seems like").
- Write a mirror you could use — the last few words you expect them to say, turned into a question.
- Write one calibrated "How" or "What" question that hands them your problem to solve.
- Write an accusation-audit line that pre-empts their biggest objection before you ask.
Worksheet: Anchor and Concession Planner
Plan your opening anchor and your concession path before you talk, so you never improvise against your own interests.
- My opening anchor (a precise, justified number)
- The one-line rationale I will attach to my anchor
- Concession step 1 — what I will move to and what I will ask for in return
- Concession step 2 — next number and the condition I attach
- My final number (oddly precise) and the small non-monetary extra I will request
- The moment I will use deliberate silence
Checklist: In-Conversation Tactics Checklist
- I anchored first with a justified number, or neutralised their anchor and re-anchored.
- I used at least one label and one mirror to lower resistance.
- I asked a calibrated question instead of arguing.
- I never gave a concession without getting something in return.
- I stayed silent after my offer instead of filling the gap.
- I summarised the agreed terms out loud before finishing.
Negotiating Your Income: Salary and Raises
Apply the system to the highest-leverage negotiation of your career and capture the full package.
Worksheet: Salary Research and Number-Setting Sheet
Complete this before any salary conversation. Every number must trace back to a source you can name out loud.
- Role, level, and location I am benchmarking
- Median pay and the source (Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Payscale, BLS, peers)
- My target number (75th-90th percentile) and why my results justify it
- My opening anchor (slightly above target)
- My reservation price (my walk-away, tied to my BATNA)
- My BATNA (competing offer, current job, or continued search)
- Three accomplishments tied to business outcomes I will cite
Exercise: Build Your Counter-Offer Script
Write your salary conversation word-for-word using the course structure: enthusiasm, anchor, justification, open question, silence.
- Write your opening line expressing genuine enthusiasm for the role.
- Write your anchored counter with its justification ("Based on my research and the impact I've delivered, I was expecting closer to $X").
- Write the calibrated question you will use if they say the range is fixed.
- List the non-salary items you will negotiate if base pay will not move (signing bonus, PTO, remote days, early review).
Checklist: Objection-Handling Readiness
- I have a calm response ready for "that's above our budget."
- I have a response ready for "this is our standard offer."
- I have a response ready for "take it or leave it" — including using silence.
- I will not bluff a walk-away I am not prepared to follow through on.
- I will get any final agreement in writing before resigning elsewhere.
- I have a fixed date and milestones if the answer is "not now."
Everyday Deals: Bills, Purchases, and Contracts
Run repeatable scripts on the monthly negotiations that quietly save real money.
Worksheet: Bill Negotiation Call Planner
Fill this in before each retention call. Use one copy per bill and keep it for next year's audit.
- Provider and service
- My current monthly cost
- Competitor's promotional price (my anchor and BATNA)
- How long I have been a customer
- The retention/cancellation department's direct line or path
- My target monthly cost
- Outcome and the date to re-negotiate next year
Exercise: Plan a Big Purchase Negotiation
Choose a real upcoming purchase (car, furniture, appliance) and plan it using anchoring and walk-away power.
- What is the true market value, and what source did you use (KBB, Edmunds, recent local sales)?
- What is your opening anchor, and what comparable backs it up?
- What is your out-the-door reservation price (total including fees), and what is your BATNA?
- Which non-price levers will you use (bundle, cash-and-immediate, flaws, timing)?
Worksheet: Contract Terms Trade-Off Grid
For a service contract, list each negotiable term and what you are willing to trade across them so you can win even when price is fixed.
- Vendor and service
- Price — my target and walk-away
- Scope — what must be included vs excluded
- Payment schedule — milestone-based terms I want
- Timeline and penalties if deadlines slip
- Revisions and warranty coverage I require
- My competing quotes (BATNA)
Checklist: Universal Pre-Negotiation Checklist
- I defined my interests beyond the headline price.
- I calculated and improved my BATNA.
- I set my reservation price and my target.
- I estimated the ZOPA from research.
- I planned my anchor and its justification.
- I prepared a label, a mirror, and a calibrated question.
- I decided what concessions to trade and what to ask in return.
- I will get the final agreement in writing.
Your Action Plan
- Pick one real negotiation happening in the next two weeks and complete the Pre-Negotiation Prep Sheet for it.
- Calculate your BATNA and take one concrete step this week to strengthen it (a second quote, a backup offer).
- Set your reservation price and an ambitious, data-backed target, and write them down before you talk.
- Draft your anchor with a one-line rationale, plus a label, a mirror, and one calibrated question.
- Run a bills audit: pick your highest recurring bill and book a retention call using the Bill Negotiation Call Planner.
- Research your market salary on at least two sources and fill in the Salary Research and Number-Setting Sheet.
- Write your salary counter-offer script word-for-word and rehearse it out loud three times.
- On your next big purchase, negotiate the out-the-door price and practise the flinch and deliberate silence.
- For any contract, complete the Contract Terms Trade-Off Grid and gather three competing quotes.
- After each negotiation, note what worked and what you would change, and get the agreement in writing.
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