Never split the difference
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===[ One sheet ]===
SECTION 1: THE GOAL
Think through best/worst-case scenarios. If you’ve
got both ends covered, you’ll be ready for anything
Avoid fallback, never be so sure of what you want that you
wouldn’t take something better
Set an optimistic but reasonable goal and define it clearly.

SECTION 2: SUMMARY
Summarize and write out in just a couple of sentences the
known facts that have led up to the negotiation.
You have to clearly describe the lay of the land before you
can think about acting in its confines. Why are you there?
What do you want? What do they want? Why?

SECTION 3: LABELS/ACCUSATION AUDIT
Anticipate how your counterpart feels about these facts you’ve
just summarized. Make a concise list of any accusations they
might make—no matter how unfair or ridiculous they might be.
Then turn each accusation into a list of no more than five
labels and spend a little time role-playing it.
It seems like _________ is valuable to you.
It seems like you don’t like _________.
It seems like you value __________.
It seems like _________ makes it easier.
It seems like you’re reluctant to _________.

SECTION 4: CALIBRATED QUESTIONS
Effective negotiators look past their counterparts’ stated positions
(what the party demands) and delve into their underlying
motivations (what is making them want what they want).
Most of us tend to assume that the
needs of the other side conflict with our own. We tend to limit
our field of vision to our issues and problems, and forget that
the other side has its own unique issues based on its own
unique worldview.
What are we trying to accomplish?
How is that worthwhile?
What’s the core issue here?
How does that affect things?
What’s the biggest challenge you face?
How does this fit into what the objective is?
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BEHIND-THE-TABLE DEAL KILLERS:
How does this affect the rest of your team?
How on board are the people not on this call?
What do your colleagues see as their main challenges in this
area?
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DIFFUSE DEAL-KILLING ISSUES:
Internal negotiating influence often sits with the people who are
most comfortable with things as they are. Change may make
them look as if they haven’t been doing their job. Your
dilemma in such a negotiation is how to make them look good
in the face of that change.
Think about their perceived losses. Never forget that a loss
stings at least twice as much as an equivalent gain.
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UNEARTH THE DEAL-KILLING ISSUES:
What are we up against here?
What is the biggest challenge you face?
How does making a deal with us affect things?
What happens if you do nothing?
What does doing nothing cost you?
How does making this deal resonate with what your
company prides itself on?
Having labels prepared will allow you to quickly turn your
counterpart’s responses back to them, which will keep them
feeding you new and expanding information. 
It seems like __________ is important.
It seems you feel like my company is in a unique position
to __________.
It seems like you are worried that __________.

SECTION 5: NONCASH OFFERS
Prepare a list of noncash items possessed by your
counterpart that would be valuable.
Ask yourself: “What could they give that would almost get us
to do it for free?” Think of the anecdote I told a few chapters
ago about my work for the lawyers’ association: My
counterpart’s interest was to pay me as little cash as possible
in order to look good in front of his board. We came upon
the idea that they pay in part by publishing a cover story
about me in their magazine. That was low-cost for them and it
advanced my interests considerably.