Negotiating and Persuading in English

Negotiation in English runs on conditionals. Almost every move — offering, conceding, refusing, closing — is built on if, and using them fluently is what separates negotiating from simply asking.

Never concede unconditionally

The central rule: every concession is linked to something you get back.

❌ We can reduce the price. ✅ If you could commit to a two-year term, we'd be able to review the price.

Useful frames:

• Provided that X, we could Y.
• On the condition that X, we'd be prepared to Y.
• We'd be willing to X, as long as Y.
• Supposing we did X — would you be able to Y? (exploring, not offering)

Supposing / What if is the safest way to test an idea without putting it on the table.

Opening

• Our position is that…
• What we're looking for is…
• The main thing for us is… (signals priority — invites a trade)
• Where would you like to start?

Naming your priority early is not a weakness. It tells the other side which trades are possible.

Probing

• Can you help me understand why that figure is fixed?
• What's driving the timeline?
• How much flexibility do you have on delivery?
• If we couldn't do that, what would that mean for you?

The last question reveals how firm a position actually is — often much less than it sounds.

Refusing without closing the door

• That's going to be difficult for us. (usually a no)
• I don't think we could go that far, but we might be able to…
• That's outside what I can agree to today. (leaves room to escalate)
• Let me take that away and come back to you.

Note that English rarely says no outright in negotiation. "That would be difficult" is a refusal, and treating it as an opening is a common and expensive misreading.

Building agreement

• We're closer than it might seem.
• Let's park that and come back to it. (defer a sticking point)
• If I've understood correctly, you need X by Y. (summarise — hard to refuse)
• So where does that leave us?

Summarising is the strongest quiet move available: it fixes what has been agreed and makes reopening it awkward.

Closing

• Can we agree on that in principle? (agreement in outline, details later)
• Shall I put that in writing?
• On that basis, we have a deal.

Watch the modals

We will deliver by June. (commitment) We would deliver by June. (conditional — no commitment yet) We should be able to deliver by June. (expectation, deniable)

Learners often read should and would as promises. In a negotiation they are deliberately not.

Test yourself

The quiz below asks what each move actually commits to.