#watna

Negotiating is something that I have always had a fear of doing. When you think about walking into a room, looking a stranger in the eye and asking them for something, it is very scary. However, that is the least likely scenario when actually looking at negotiations. I have learned how confident one can become at negotiating but also how often we negotiate on a regular basis with the people around us.

When starting this course I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of information that had been provided. I did not realize that negotiating could be made into a course and taught, however, I quickly learned otherwise. We were given an assignment where we actually got to negotiate in a live setting and this assignment changed my entire view on the subject. After realizing that the biggest asset you have is preparation, and knowing how to prepare properly, I found that negotiating is one of the most natural things I can do.

Think about this: You decide you want to go to a party with your friend. When you call them to tell them, you ask when they want to leave. When they tell you 5pm, you realize that 6pm would be better. So you do your best to make 6pm work and you work with them to figure out the options for leaving later. This is negotiating at the most basic level. Now add research, motivation, and tactic into the mix and you begin to find that you can be confident in any outcome.