Selling and negotiating Teacher’s notes

(Basic User)
Lesson Objective: You will be able to negotiate in English.

1. Tick the situations where you negotiate in your life with a ✓.

Buying a house □
Buying a car □
Buying furniture □
Buying jewelry □
Auto repair □
Airline tickets □

Discuss with your partner:

What else do you negotiate? Add two more things you negotiate to the list.

Do you like negotiating? Why or why not?

2. Read the text. Answer the questions with T (true) or F (false).

The Negotiation Process

It's time to negotiate! Rules for successful negotiations:

1) Always try to negotiate for a minimum of 15 minutes. Any less than that and it is unlikely
that each party had enough time to consider the other side. The size or seriousness of the
negotiation determines the amount of time needed to negotiate it. Time limits are a good
idea. Approximately 90% of negotiations are made in the last 10% of the discussion.

2) Always offer to let the other party speak first. This is especially important if you are
making a request for something like as a raise. The other party may overestimate what you
want to ask for and may offer more than what you wanted to request.

3) Always respect and listen to what your opponent has to say. This is important even if he
or she does not give the same courtesy to you. Try to remain calm even if the other party is
frustrated or angry. Remember that some people will do anything to intimidate you.

www.daraidiomas.com
Av. Tamaulipas 141 Piso 3, Col. Hipódromo Condesa, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, México D.F., +52(55) 4748.1270
info@daraidiomas.com
1
Selling and negotiating Teacher’s notes
(Basic User)
4) Acknowledge what the other party says. Everyone likes to know that what they say is
important. If the other party opens first, use it to your advantage, by paraphrasing what you
have heard. Repeat their important ideas before you introduce your own stronger ones.

5) Pay attention to your body language, and also the body language of your partner. Make
sure that you aren't communicating any negative body language.
Material adapted from https://www.englishclub.com/business-english/negotiations-process.htm

Questions:

a.) A negotiation can take only 10 minutes. T F

b.) If you let the other party speak first, they may offer more than you wanted. T F
c.) If your opponent is angry in a negotiation then you can be angry, too. T F
d.) People like to know that others think that what they say is important. T F
e.) Negative body language is OK in negotiations. T F

3. Complete the dialog of two people negotiating with the language in the box.

I agree with you that’s a good idea I don’t see any problem
I can compromise I don’t see it that way I disagree with you
I want I don’t want

Esteban: Thanks for coming today, Luis!

Luis: No problem! Do you want to start?

Esteban: Sure! About the idea of creating a TV ad for the company-

(1)______________________ to make an ad to generate sales in the
company.

Luis: (2)_______________________. I think an ad is too expensive.

Esteban: (3)_______________________ a really expensive ad. I was thinking about

making a cheap, but funny ad.

Luis: (4) ______________________. All TV ads are expensive. However, (5) _____

______________. What if we do a radio ad? Radio ads are cheaper.

Esteban: That sounds good! (6) ______________________ with a radio ad. And yes,

(7) ______________________, TV ads are much more expensive than radio

ads. Do you think it can be funny? Humor is good for selling.

Luis: I think (8) ______________________. People will remember the ad if it’s

funny!
www.daraidiomas.com
Av. Tamaulipas 141 Piso 3, Col. Hipódromo Condesa, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, México D.F., +52(55) 4748.1270
info@daraidiomas.com
2
Selling and negotiating Teacher’s notes
(Basic User)
4. Look at the cards for a role-play of a negotiation. Pick a card and act out the situation. Your
partner will use the other card for his or her role.

Situation #1:

You want to rent a new office.
The office normally rents for $50,000
MXN per month, but you want to spend
maximum $45,000 MXN per month.
You own an office building and want to
rent out an office space.
You are asking for $50,000 MXN per
month, but nobody has rented the
space for 6 months and you would
lower the price to $47,500 per month.

Situation #2:

You want to sell your old bicycle. You want to buy the seller’s bicycle.

It cost $20,000 MXN when it was new, Negotiate a price with the seller. It
but it is 8 years old now and very used. looks like the bike could be worth
The minimum price you would accept is $10,000 MXN, but you want the
$5,000 MXN. cheapest price possible.

www.daraidiomas.com
Av. Tamaulipas 141 Piso 3, Col. Hipódromo Condesa, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, México D.F., +52(55) 4748.1270
info@daraidiomas.com
3
Selling and negotiating Teacher’s notes
(Basic User)
Teacher’s notes

1. Students check what they negotiate, then discuss the questions with their partner. Ask them to
ask for any unknown words in the survey and elicit/teach the meanings of the words before they
begin.

2. Ask students to scan the article for unknown words and work on them figuring out their meanings.
Elicit the meanings and help them find them before the last resort of simply giving the definitions.
Students read and answer the true or false questions, then check in pairs. Go around the room and
check students’ answers to check their reading comprehension.

Answers: a.) F b.) T c.) F d.) T e.) F

3. Ask if any students know what an ad is. Explain that they are going to read a dialog about a
negotiation in marketing. Students read the dialog, then put the phrases into the blanks to complete
the dialog. The language in the box can be grouped into 3 categories: language for agreeing,
language for disagreeing, and language to talk about what you want/don’t want. Explain to the
students that more than one answer may be appropriate for 2 of the blanks (which have to do with
disagreeing).

Answers: 1.) I want 2.) (option for disagreeing) 3.) I don’t want

4.) (option for disagreeing) 5.) I can compromise 6.) I don’t see any problem

7.) I agree with you. 8.) That’s a good idea.

4. Students will read the cards, then prepare for the role-play. They then act out the role play in their
pairs. They then try situation #2. Observe the class and help guide them along. Analyze language
errors/what they can improve as a class after if time allows.

www.daraidiomas.com
Av. Tamaulipas 141 Piso 3, Col. Hipódromo Condesa, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, México D.F., +52(55) 4748.1270
info@daraidiomas.com
4