Only those with confidence can successfully pull negotiation through. This statement is not farfetched because it takes a massive surge of self-esteem to get what you want. Before you think of going into the room to state your claim and get what you want, you must be confident to at least look at the other party in the eye. The truth is that timid people are easy to toss around, and the other party can easily see timidity. If they see it, trust that they will use this to their advantage.
If you want to have an edge in your negotiation, you must learn to exude a high amount of confidence; this means you must believe in yourself and your strategy. It would help if you trust in your idea enough; why should anyone else believe in anything you have to say. Confidence will also allow you to reach for new challenges and stay out of your comfort zone; this means reaching for better ways to ace your negotiation.
Confidence is an essential building block in hacking your negotiation and ensuring that you make only the best offer. With negotiation, the intent is to find common grounds. However, if you are not bold yourself, you may settle for less.
An essential block for building confidence and enthusiasm for what you are about to do is to realize that you can do what you are about to do. It is the knowledge of this that will help you focus on what matters. If you do not feel confident enough, here are eight techniques that can help:
1. Pretend like you are confident
In sport, before any athlete hits the field, he first visualizes what it is like to be on the field, getting the ball, and crossing the goal line. You can use the same strategy. Put your negotiating self forward, project every ounce of confidence you feel, stand straight, dress better and break many eggs.
How to pretend like you are confident?
1. Listen to a bassy music
It may sound annoying, but it can trick your mind into feeling confident when listening to loud music blasting from your car or phone. In a recent study, bass-heavy rap music made more people exhibit confidence and perform better than others.
2. Use the power posture
Your body language generally says a lot about how you feel and what you are thinking about. You are about to find out that your posture can also significantly affect your internal dialogue and even trick you into feeling confident.
According to a TED talk by Amy Cuddy, a power posture pose held for several minutes can boost your confidence in almost any scenario.
What is this power posture?
It is a stance that involves you extend your arm over your head in a victory, put your hands on your hips, then flare your elbows out. You can try it in private and see if your confidence would boost from 0 – 100.
3. Groom yourself until you feel good about yourself
It's simple. Use makeup if you can, wear nice clothes, make your hair in the way you like it and give your biggest smile. Make yourself more pleasing to feel more confident, and with this bit of effort, you will boost your confidence.
4. Remember a powerful moment
Your brain needs to dwell on what is positive. Visualize a past victory you have experienced and feel the triumph all over again.
5. Do something you are outstanding at
Before you get into the room to lay your demands, you need to be in high spirit, so how do you get this? Do something you are outstanding at. It could be playing guitar or perform magic or a trick with your coworkers.
2. Affirm positivity only
Listen to the tiny voices in your head. Immediately detect even a slight thread of thought that could erode your confidence, immediately replace it with new and positive messages.
3. Maintain eye contact
Refusing to maintain eye contact is the same as telling the other party that you don't feel confident and comfortable. It is the same as saying you are weak. However, you must also understand your audience as some cultures do not appreciate looking at one another in the eye. If you negotiate with parties from Europe, Australia, and North America, eye contact is highly encouraged.
4. Don't forget to listen
Confident people are generous with their time and attention. If you are truly confident, you will learn to take time to listen to others, share their understanding and understand how you can create an opportunity for both of you.
5. Know your stuff
Knowing that you understand your stuff alone is enough to kickstart your confidence journey. Hence, you cant sideline knowing your fact. It will help you stay prepared and help you see that you have a better chance in the situation.
6. Rehearse; it is your best chance
Rehearsing before you go forward can be as simple as writing your simple or creating a conversation draft. You could either do a role play with a friend or use your mirror to observe your expressions, tackle your fear and see the loopholes in your work.
7. Start small
It would help if you learned to practice your argument/discussion in a small-scale situation until you are comfortable. You can start with someone lesser in authority or a group of few people; if you master that, it will help you conquer more.
8. Finally, smile
Smiling is a subtle sign that you are confident and you are ready to take on the challenge of bargaining with the other party.
Negotiation is about the survival of the fittest. It is about the best party with the strongest stance. This means you can not afford to elude weakness but confidence. With these eight techniques, you are on your way to hacking confidence and acing your negotiation.