Some people may get panic when they have to speak in front of a group. Actually, there are several ways that can be used for alleviating panic or nervous when you have to give presentation in front of people. Just read on the following tips that will guide you in giving a great presentation.

As the first step, you need to write down the material you are going to deliver in your presentation in detail. This is to make you easier in memorizing it. Later, you only need to put the main points that you will be covering on index card or cue cards. However, before you can do it, you should know the material first.

The second step that you need to do for giving a great presentation is to practice. You can try to practice giving presentation in front of the mirror. Or, you can also try to do it in front of your friends or family so that they can give you their opinion about your performance. So, you still can do more practice if you think that you are less experienced.

The third step that you have to do is to prepare the visual aids that you need for your presentation. It is required using a software program in order to come up with the slides which can be printed out and distributed to the audience during the talk. In addition, if you cannot access to a computer, you can use a whiteboard and flipcharts.

The fourth step is to prepare the room. When preparing the room, you have to make sure that the lighting is properly installed so that your audience can see you and the screen or the whiteboard and the flipcharts. If it is possible, you can use graphs, symbols, and aids in a way to keep the audience interested in your presentation. Just make sure that your handouts are readily available. Besides, you can also provide pens and notepads to the audience if necessary.

The fifth step that you should do is to prepare yourself. It happens in some people to get dry mouth from the nervousness before they get up in front of a group. Therefore, it is important for you to have water for yourself and also other materials that you need. In order to add some spark during your presentation, you can consider using marker or laser pointer. This can be useful in providing refreshments for the audience. Do not forget to talk loudly and clearly so that you can become a center of attention for your audience.

Ancient Eastern philosophers discovered through millennia of observing and meditating that we live in two very different worlds simultaneously. This belief is now apparent as reality presented by theories in Quantum physics. The material world of name and form, which we experience with our five sense perceptions, is a manifested, finite world of complex fluctuations. Intertwined with this existence of physical “things” is a tiny subtle world that operates under different physical laws.

This subtle world is fascinating, as it has been learned that it cannot be observed, because by observing, that which is being observed is “altered” by the Observer. This subtle world cannot be experienced by the intellect. It can only be experienced by becoming One with it. In other words, “to BE it.” And the only way to BE in this infinite space of all eternity is to enter it… well, “empty.”

Empty means free of all hindrances, ideals, perceptions, thought, beliefs… the only way in is through complete stillness of the mind. This is state of “pure luminosity” can only be achieved through high states of consciousness, or meditation.

Most people have no meditation experience at all. Or, if they have attempted it in the past, they notice Monkey Mind right away, and quit in frustration. So many times I have heard my clients say, “I can’t meditate… my mind is too busy!” Then… even more reason to take up the practice!!! A busy mind, is simply an untrained mind. And the victim is you… spending a lifetime in a virtual prison of emotional ups and downs… the cause for all suffering. The Buddha’s entire lifetime was spent teaching this phenomenon, and how to escape it.

Thankfully, I have come upon a simple exercise that I call “The Pause,” which easily guides one’s mind into the present moment. I find it extremely important for my clients to actually experience the present moment prior to attempting a dedicated meditation practice.

The steps below are easily learned, and can be practiced anywhere at any time. The more “time” you have in the present moment, the more you have a subtle world of infinite possibilities available to you!

Being the Present Moment. Pause

Sit comfortable. Be comfortable. Notice the position of your body. Notice how your feet feel on the floor. Notice how the shoes fit your feet. Become aware of how your pants feel on your body. Is the material soft or course? What is the temperature in the room? Does your hands and face feel warm, or is a cool breeze gently touching them? Notice the posture of your spine. The weight of your shoulders.

Take in a deep breath. Hold at the top… and gently release the air. How does the air feel exhaling from your nostrils? Is the movement of air soft and light, or rushed? Does the air feel warm on your lip? Notice these things, and BE. Here. Now.

Take pause. Sit. Be Still. Just breathe, and notice how your body feels experiencing the intake and exhalation of air.

This is the present moment.

Sit. Still. Here. Now… in this “space.” Take notice of hearing. Let your hearing be wide. What sounds do you notice? Do you hear your breath? Is there soft rustling in the background? Do you hear cars or people outside? Is there music playing? Can you hear a clock? Just notice the sounds. Let the vibration of sound rise, and then fall. Notice all sounds, but try not to label them. Be. Here. Now. Listen to the present moment.

Take pause. Sit. Notice taste. How does your mouth feel? Is there a feeling of warmth? Dryness? Perhaps you still experience a sweetness left over from lunch. Swallow. Notice the sensations involved with this experience. No judging. Only noticing. Become aware of the heat, texture, elements in the present moment that involve taste. This is the present moment. Nothing more. Nothing less. It. Just. Is.

Be. Here. Now. Breathe. Feel the air coming into your lungs. Does your stomach rise and fall with each breath?? This is life. This is you breathing. This is now.

Open your eyes. Take in the sensation of sight. See as you have never seen before. Take in color. Light. Texture. Depth. Perspective. Reflections. This is sight. This is seeing. Be. Here. Now and see.

Close your eyes. Feel your breath. Feel your body… notice its posture. Notice if you feel warm or chilled. Notice the floor meeting your feet. Breathe. Breathe again. Here. Now. In this moment.

You may now end the exercise. You have fully witnessed the present moment.: )

May you be this Peace.

The Power of “the Pause.”

The Pause, allows the mind time to re-wire with the truth. You will begin to respond to all situations from your highest good. Simple approach, not simple to remember and APPLY. Intentions are great, but APPLICATION brings the greatest desired results, because your intentions are NOW aligned with your highest Self.

I practice this exercise for 5 seconds before responding to most things. For example, before answering the phone. Before walking into a meeting. Before eating. Pause, and remember, ” I am pure, perfect, and complete.” Remember who you are dealing with is also Pure, perfect and Complete.

This is a present moment awareness, from which you can then plan other activities, be in a meeting, perform a task… etc.

This week, try to remember to take a pause before you begin any new task. When you arrive home from being out, pause before you enter your home. Before you meet with anyone… pause.

These tiny experiences of present moment awareness, will enormously expand awareness into EVERY area of your life. The process is easy, but it is difficult to train ourselves to apply the practice into our lives.

Spend an entire week applying the pause in your daily life, and setting aside 5 minutes a day to go through the entire process.

In Peace and Blessing ~ Melinda

At the end of my session at a conference, one of the audience members came up to tell me about a bad session she had attended. She said, “The presenter vomited his content on the audience. It was awful. I would have walked out if I wasn’t sitting in the front row.” That’s pretty strong language! Of course, I had to ask for the details of what made her feel “vomited” on by the presenter.

Here are that presenter’s top four mistakes, as described by the audience member – and what you can do to avoid them:

Presenter Mistake #1: “The content was disorganized.”
Your presentation should have a clear beginning, middle or end. It sounds so simple, yet so many presenters fail to organize their material clearly. Follow the old adage, “tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them.” It should be easy for the audience to follow you and understand how your points relate to each other and your overall message.

Presenter Mistake #2: “The slides were crowded and hard to read.”
If the audience has to struggle to read your slides, they will struggle to understand your presentation. Please, for the sake of your audience members’ eyesight, use large font (larger than you think you need to use) and only a few bullet points on each slide. If you find yourself saying, “I know some of you can’t read this…,” then your slides are too crowded. Or go one step better and use only high-quality photos or images (not cheesy clip art) and a few words in very large font. Or be radical and don’t use slides at all; remember, you are the message and the slides are just the visual aids.

Presenter Mistake #3: “He only used examples from one area, which wasn’t applicable to many in the audience.”
The first rule of presentations is to know your audience, and in this case, the presenter doesn’t seem to have done that. Be sure that some of your examples come from the industries or fields represented in the audience. For example, if you are speaking to an audience of accountants, avoid using examples only from sales. Or if you’re presenting to small business owners, don’t just use stories from the corporate world. To find relevant examples and stories, check out the industry websites, read the publications and talk to people in that field. If there is an attendee list, interview a few audience members ahead of time

Presenter Mistake #4: “He said he wanted to make it interactive, but there was no opportunity for interactivity.”
I’ve seen many presenters make this same mistake and the solution here is simple: don’t claim that you want your presentation to be interactive unless you really mean it and have planned for the interactivity with specific questions, exercises or activities. And just asking, “Is everyone with me?” does not count as being interactive – and anyway, it’s rare that anyone will speak up and say “no.”

If you avoid these four common presenter mistakes, you will be less likely to “vomit” your content on your audience!

Your Present Moment Experience

The act of surrendering to the present moment requires letting go of resisting what is taking place in our life. As we do, the layers of judgement disappear and we discover the perfection of the present moment. Our judgements have a way of obscuring the gift offered to us in our moment-to-moment experience. Suffering takes place if we allow our judgement to get in the way of surrendering to the moment. Can you identify with this? Have you wanted to escape the present moment because it did not live up to your expectations? How did you overcome your resistance?

If we judge the present because it does not meet our expectations, we will suffer. The ego will try to convince us this moment is not what we wanted, and so we try to resist it. But we put our happiness on hold when we adopt this way of thinking because life is trying to unfold through us. We have little understanding of why things happen and our limited perception only sees what is taking place before us. We can’t possibly know whether an unwanted experience is likely to benefit us in the future.

Therefore, to surrender to the present moment without judgement requires dropping our resistance to how things should be. The ego likes to dominate our thoughts and in doing so, we experience fear, anxiety, anger, and resistance to something we don’t want. But if we recognise the ego for what it is; a saboteur trying to undermine us, we can distance ourselves from becoming entangled in its web. The way out of the ego trap is to shift our attention back to the present moment and notice our surroundings. For example, when you are caught up in thoughts of despair and judgement, thank your mind for trying to distract you and reconnect back to the present moment.

To achieve this, focus on your breath and the sensations it creates within your body. Notice objects around the room you are in. For example, a practice I often undertake when caught up in negative thinking is to walk around the room and touch different objects, noting their texture and the sensations they evoke within me. I try to be mindful of my breathing and anchor myself to the present moment instead of allowing my mind to pull me into the future or the past. Your present moment experience needn’t be perfect, but by surrendering to it, you loosen its grip and allow life to reveal itself through you. Life has a good handle on its role because it has a resume spanning 14 billion years of experience. You and I only have decades of experience, so we must trust life knows what it is doing despite our resistance.

Judgement Is Ego Based

Are you comfortable with these ideas so far? Can you see that trying to manipulate the present moment delays your happiness and prolongs your suffering? I’m not asking you to be apathetic about what is taking place in your life. I’m calling you to surrender your thoughts about what shouldn’t be taking place and trust in a greater intelligence to function as it should. Judgement is ego based, which thrives on controlling a situation it has no power over. In contrast, spirit (heart-based awareness), observes what is taking place and demands nothing of you. We experience suffering when the egoic voice dominates our inner talk, without us being mindful of it. We might perceive the egoic voice as our own because we haven’t learned to distinguish it from the voice of spirit.

To illustrate with an example, when you were young, you might have had a more dominant parent compared to the other. Naturally, you learnt to distinguish each parent’s role in your life i.e., strict vs easy-going parent. In my case, my father had a strong disciplining role in my life, whereas my mother offered quite encouragement and support. Each parent had a unique role to play in my life. Therefore, I likened my father’s parenting to the voice of the ego and my mother’s role to the voice of spirit. You might have your own way of discerning the difference between ego and spirit. When you understand how each communicates to you, it will help you distinguish truth from falsehood.

Surrender Is An Act Of Love

Surrendering to the present moment without judgement requires anchoring ourselves to what is taking place here and now. Surrender is an act of love because we trust life to give us what we need instead of believing we know what is best for us. Undoubtedly, we know what is best for us to feed and nurture ourselves. But on the level of personal growth and soul expansion, we are limited in our knowledge and hence why life intercedes, to give us experiences outside our comfort zone.

To put this into perspective, I never imagined my father would pass away when I was 26 years old. I never envisaged at 29, I would be diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. These experiences and others pushed me to grow and evolve well beyond my comfort zone and taught me the power of trusting life. They taught me the art of surrender because what I believed was good for me was not necessarily valuable to my soul’s evolution. So now, I’m inviting you to surrender your heart to the present moment without judgement. Trust that every experience from this moment forward will be perfectly orchestrated for your highest good. You may not see the lessons immediately, but if you trust in that knowing, you will look back, knowing everything happened for your greatest good.

Considering this, I invite you to focus on how you can surrender to the present moment in your daily life. What can you do to be more grounded in the here and now? Earlier, I gave you an example of an exercise that involved noticing your breath and touching objects in the room. Use this practice to connect to your now experience. Other useful ways involve journaling and meditation. Whatever you decide, reclaim your power instead of letting your mind carry you into judgement and despair when things don’t go your way. After all, when we surrender our heart to the present moment, we discover the essence of life coalescing to bring into existence life’s beauty and majesty. If we resist these moments, we miss out on the miracles unfolding before our eyes.

The evening before his presentation, another conference presenter confessed to me that his presentation was boring. He asked for my help to improve his presentation. We chatted over wings and beer while watching the hockey game.

I asked him to clarify the purpose of this presentation. That’s the first place for you to start when designing, reviewing and adapting your presentation. That’s also how you should measure the success of your presentation.

He paused briefly to think about that, then started to ramble. I smiled and cut him off. “What do you want people to think, feel or do after your presentation?” I could see the light bulb go on in his mind.

His organization had prepared a comprehensive report that could be very helpful to this audience of entrepreneurs and others like them. The audience could save or make a lot of money after reading this report. His organization planned to sell this report – but first they needed two things: constructive feedback and supportive testimonials about the report.

So he was offering to email a free copy of the report to anyone in the audience who wanted it if they agreed to provide constructive or supportive comments about the report.

I suggested that he focus his presentation on why the audience should know the questions and answers in this report. Reinforce the message that successful business owners might not know all the answers – but they need to know the right questions to ask. This report had both.

He listened well, went back to his room and adapted his presentation. The next day he shortened his presentation and focused his message as we had discussed. He did one other thing that helped. He told a personal story of a past failure he experienced when running this business because he did not know the right questions to ask – the same questions answered in this report. He made all these changes in his presentation overnight. When you are focused on your purpose it’s easier and faster to prepare an effective presentation.

After his presentation he was delighted to tell me that he had close to a 100% sign-up rate for the report. By his definition of purpose that made his presentation a smashing success.

I should have asked him to pay for the beer and wings.

Do you want to make your presentations more successful? Be clear on the purpose of your presentation and focus your message around that purpose. In most cases the purpose is to persuade people to action. State your purpose in terms of “I want people to”

One more thing, include a personal anecdote. The short story that this presenter used was effective because he admitted a personal failure. He didn’t portray himself as perfect. The best personal stories are the ones that reveal your human (imperfect) side.

Have you ever stopped to think why negotiations can be ineffective and end up as an unhealthy conflict rather than achieving a negotiated agreement? Of course, one of the reasons is that one or both parties may adopt a competitive ‘win at all costs’ approach.

The result of this is that we can end up with one of three unsatisfactory outcomes.

Win/lose – I win and you lose

Lose/win – I lose and you win.

Lose/lose – I lose and you lose

We all know that the aim should usually be to achieve a Win/Win outcome with both parties leaving the negotiation satisfied with the outcome and the way they were treated. This means setting up the negotiation so that this can happen both through our attitude and through careful planning.

All too often negotiations can turn out to be nothing more than a battle ground with each person attempting to win. Having adopted this competitive stance it can be difficult to back down. The problem is that pride can get in the way of dealing with the issues. If this happens it is quite likely that no agreement will be reached with both parties walking away from a negotiation that could easily have been resolved. Even worse they may stand their ground to such an extent that the lawyers get involved. This is the classic Lose/Lose scenario.

If a negotiation is to be successful there is a need for both parties to collaborate. This will take a lot of work and effort.

It is all too easy to blame the other person when a negotiation fails by blaming them for a refusal to negotiate. However, this can be overcome with insight and an understanding of how negotiations work.

A successful negotiation depends on both sides being reasonable and this is helped through careful planning. We have to expect to compromise, but if we prepare properly we can ensure that our compromises are calculated and planned and are rewarded by compromises on both sides.

Always remember that the other party will only make a movement if you give them a reason to. This means that you will either have to demonstrate that a move is merited or that they will get something in return. For example, a seller may not be prepared to give you a discount for a single order. They may well give you a discount if you guarantee them a minimum number of similar orders over the next 12 months. This is because they are getting something valuable in return.

You cannot behave like a child throwing a tantrum and insist on debt relief for threaten to declare bankruptcy when you are negotiating with your credit card issuers can you? You will have to adopt a sensible and smart approach.

Not only should you get the debt settlement deal but you should also be in a position to request the credit card issuer to do you a favor by not destroying your credits score. Of course, the card issuer may or may not agree.

However, there is no harm in trying, is there? Hence, you should pay special attention to the debt settlement negotiation process. Let us make one thing very clear at the very beginning. If you do not know how to negotiate or if you are not confident about your negotiation skills, you should immediately skip the process of a do it yourself negotiation and focus on getting professionals on the job.

Sure, the professionals will cost you money. Further, you will have to put in a lot of time and effort identifying the right service provider. However, there are many resources that will help you in this task and you can be certain that the debt relief you enjoy will be long lasting.

The task of identifying the service provider may be complicated but the actual debt relief negotiation will be done in a proper manner. You must understand that finding the professional is ancillary and caring out negotiations is the main task. When you keep these factors in mind, you will realize how you should proceed to negotiate credit card debts.

Just because you are employing a professional does not mean you did not focus on the negotiation part at all. How can you be sure that the service providers doing a good job? Is it not obvious that you will have to have a basic idea about negotiation.

For starters, everything must be formal and a specific. Vague oral negotiations is not going to provide any benefit for anybody. It is just going to be a waste of time.

Secondly, the negotiation process should be planned in advance and the service provider should have a clear plan of action. If you do not have such a plan of action in your mind, log on to the World Wide Web and find out how other people try to negotiate.

Thirdly, the first step you take is very important. You should not be in a hurry to commit yourself to a deal very quickly. If you are being hurried by the card issuer, make it a point to take some time out so that you can check on the World Wide Web and satisfy yourself before signing on the dotted line.

This is a greatly reduced and edited version of a negotiation carried out in Spain using the Harvard University PON model. Certain details have been changed to preserve the confidentiality of the client.

Definition of Dovetailing: Something that is low cost for you and high value for the other side OR high value for you and low cost for them.

Participants:
- An International food and drink company.
- A Spanish union negotiating the yearly contract for a factory workforce.

Issue:
The union made a demand for a pay rise higher than the cost-of-living increase stipulated by the Spanish government. The Human Resources Director wanted to find some way to offer more to the union without exceeding the proposed budget.

Background:
The company is part of an international group of food and drink manufacturers. This factory produces pre-packaged food and has a staff of approx. 350 employees. It is located in a small town in rural Spain. It is the principal employer in the area. The parent company has a worldwide commitment to ethical and professional treatment of its employees.

The company and the union had a long history of confrontational negotiations. This has changed over the past few years and although there is still a certain degree of distrust between the company and the union, the relationship is getting better every year. Both the union, the employees and the company management recognize that the only way to guarantee the future of the company is to have “Social peace” which means negotiations instead of bargaining and no threats, etc. The factory involved is the principal employer in the town and recognizes its civic responsibility to the town, citizens and staff.

Interests of the Human Resources Department:
1. Stay within the H.R. budget for the next year.
2. Maintain & improve relations with the union and its representatives.
3. Stay within Government guidelines regarding pay and benefits.
4. Not create a negative precedent for future negotiations.
5. Negotiate the best possible deal for both the company and the union/employees.
6. Obtain a two or three year contract if possible.
7. Avoid social “unrest” in the company and outside.
8. Comply with the publicly stated H.R. policy of the company of “Productive & cooperative Negotiation”.

Interests of the union negotiators:
1. Public recognition of their skills as effective negotiators.
2. Obtain the maximum possible from the company.
3. Enhance their possibilities of promotion within the union.
4. Avoid a confrontation with the company.
5. Maintain & improve relations with the company and its representatives.

Interests of the company employees:
1. Obtain the maximum possible from the company.
2. Avoid a confrontation with the company.
3. Maintain & improve relations with the company and its representatives.
4. Obtain a fair agreement.

Shared Interests:
1. Avoid a confrontation.
2. Maintain & improve relations.
3. Obtain a fair agreement.
4. Obtain recognition of their negotiation skills.

How the Human Resources Manager used “Dovetailing” to achieve the desired outcome:
The H.R. manager discovered that a large number of employees had mortgages. The majority of the mortgages were for periods of between 10 & 15 years and varied from 48.000€ to 60.000€ (approx. US $53,000 to $67.000). Each person was paying between ($87.00) and (US $113.00 ) per month per million interest on the capital.

Examples:
1. For a person with a 60.000€ mortgage for 15 years paying 102€ per million, this worked out to approx. 1020€ per month.
2. For a person with a 60.000€ mortgage for 10 years paying 78 € per million, this worked out to approx. 780 € per month.

(Please note the figures used are illustrative only)

On the basis of this information, the H.R. manager contacted the bank used by the company – initially by telephone – and arranged for the bank to offer the employees of the company preferential mortgages. The bank was delighted and made the following offer to the employees:

1. Free transfer of their current mortgage to the bank. The bank assumed ALL the costs of early cancellation, transfer fees, etc.
2. A guaranteed special interest rate (much lower than commonly available) for the first two years of the mortgage and then written guarantees about future interest rate rises.

This represented the following savings for the two examples given above:
1. After the transfer of the mortgage, a person with a mortgage for 60.000 € for 15 years would pay only 42€ per million, this worked out to approx. 420€ per month. This produced an additional 600€ available for use by the employee at NO additional cost to the company.
2. After the transfer of the mortgage, a person with a 60.000 € mortgage for 10 years would pay only 24€ per million, this worked out to approx. 240€ per month. This produced an additional 540€ available for use by the employee at NO additional cost to the company.

More than 80% of the employees in the company opted for the offer of the new mortgage which proved extremely beneficial for all concerned.

Obviously, there were many other elements included in the negotiation – the majority included Dovetailing whenever possible.

Result:
- On the basis of the number of mortgages presented to the bank, The company was able to negotiate an extremely beneficial agreement on Bank commissions & service charges with the bank.
- The company received preferential treatment in all financial matters.
- The company achieved all its objectives and covered all its interests.
- The union negotiators covered their interests.
- The employees covered their interests.
- The interests of the Human Resources Manager were covered.

My objective is presenting this case to you all is to show fellow negotiators that we need to “Think outside of the box” in all of our negotiations and use our individual or team creativity to ensure that we get the best outcomes possible for all the parties involved.

The basic information in this case study is real. Certain elements have been changed to protect the identities of the organizations involved.

If you are like me, you are not comfortable negotiating or haggling over prices.  Sorry, it is just not in my nature to do this.  You need to do what I do, find another member of your family or a friend that is an expert at negotiating and have them perform this important task for you at the RV shows or dealerships.

In our household, my dear wife is the family’s Chief Negotiator.  Why?  Because she is good at it.  I mean really good.  When it comes to buying a house, car, RV or major appliances, she is the one that does it.  Our whole family is in awe of her haggling abilities. 

You have heard the phrase that “you can’t get blood from a Turnip”.  I guarantee you that my wife could get at least a half a gallon of blood from any Turnip.

When it is time to make a major purchase in our household, we unleash my wife on the unsuspecting salesperson.  I also go along on these purchasing journeys.  My main role during these negotiations is to sit next to my wife, keep my mouth shut while smiling and nodding in agreement with whatever she says to the salesperson (I might add that I am excellent at performing this task).

I have literally watched salespeople crumble within a matter of minutes of her beginning the negotiations.  At the end of these sessions, the salesperson’s eyes are usually glazed over and they have no idea what just hit them. 

The end result for us has always been that we have gotten a great discounted price on these major items. 
A good example of how good my wife is at negotiating is the purchase of our most recent RV.  We took our three kids to one of the RV shows in our area and by the time my wife got done negotiating, we came back with only two kids and a great Class A Motorhome (OK calm down it’s only a joke, we didn’t trade in one of our kids for a Motorhome, really we didn’t!).

Anyway, who better to give you some Tips on Negotiating than our family’s Chief Negotiator my wife.  Here are my Wife’s 8 Negotiation Tips For Buying A RV.

Negotiation Tip 1:  If you are going to have to finance the purchase of the RV, arrange your financing in advance of the actual negotiating.  This way you will know exactly how much you can spend on your new RV.

Negotiation Tip 2:  When you have found the RV make and model you want, just don’t buy it from the first dealer you talk to.  If you are at one of the RV shows that take place around the U.S. check all of the dealers that are there and see if they also have the same make and model you want.  If they do, you can now play one dealer against the other.  Especially if they are the type of dealer that says that they will beat anybody else’s price.  The more dealers that have your make and model the better.  Remember the bigger RV shows will have more dealers.

Negotiation Tip 3:  If fuel prices are high when you are ready to buy a RV, don’t let that stop you from buying one.  It is to your advantage to buy an RV when fuel is high.  Why?  A lot of people let the fuel prices scare them off from buying a RV.  That’s good for you.  With less people in the market to buy an RV, you will find RV dealers more willing to sell you an RV at a lower price, so they don’t have to keep it on the lot and pay the holding costs. 

Remember the basic concept of Supply and Demand (also known as price and demand) you learned in your Economics class in high school (if you are like me you probably can’t even remember high school).  To put it in RV terms, when fuel is high, the demand for RVs goes down, with less demand, the RV dealers are going to do everything they can to get rid of those RVs (in other words they will accept less money for them).  Depending on what type of RV you are going to buy, the money you save on the purchase price could pay for your fuel for the next couple of years.

Negotiation Tip 4:  Before you start negotiating with any RV dealer, you need to do a background check on them.  That’s right, check them out before you waste your time negotiating with them.  Believe it or not there are some unscrupulous (shysters, crooks, thieves or just plain bad) RV dealers out there.  Luckily, they are very few and far between. 

The best place to check them out is with the Better Business Bureau.  Go to the  Better Business Bureau website and put in the zip code of the dealership and then on the next screen put in their name.  The BBB has different rating codes in different states.  If they are rated good then you are on the right track.  If they have a bad rating, stay far, far away.

Negotiation Tip 5:  Be prepared to hear the following statements from the Salespeople at the RV shows or dealerships:.  “This is our last best and final price on this RV”.  “The show price we have on this RV is as low as we can go”.  “We are barely going to make a profit at the price we are giving you”.  “My sales manager says we can’t go any lower”.  “Because you’re nice people, our sales manager decided to give you the best deal”.  “WOW, I can’t believe we actually decided to give you this price”.  “We have never sold one of these units at the low price we are giving you”.  “Come on folks, I got eight kids to feed” (sorry, I just had to throw that one in).  What do all of these statements mean?  They don’t mean you are at the lowest price.  It means you need to dig in and start negotiating harder.

You may also hear this statement from your salesperson.  “The price we are giving you is good for today only”.  That means, I really want to make a sale today.  If they really want to sell you an RV (and they do), you will still be able to get the same price on the same unit within a reasonable amount of time after that day.

Negotiation Tip 6:  Treat the salesperson with respect, don’t talk down to them, don’t berate them, remember they are just doing their job.  On the other hand don’t get intimidated by them either.  They cannot force you to sign anything or buy anything.  You have to remember that when you are buying a RV, you are in the driver’s seat.  They really want to sell you the RV and you really want to buy it (don’t, come out and tell them that you really can’t live without this RV) but, the bottom line is you want your price.

Negotiation Tip 7:  Be prepared to walk away and not make a deal that day.  If you feel that you are not getting the sale price you should, be prepared to pack it in and leave.  Sometimes when the sales person actually sees you walking out that door they have an epiphany and can actually get a little better price.  If not, continue walking and actually leave.  This next part is optional; you can give them your phone number and ask them not to call you unless they can come closer to your price.

Negotiation Tip 8:  Most of all be realistic in your expectations.  If you are negotiating the purchase of a tent trailer, you cannot expect to get a massive discount.  On the other hand if you are looking at a Class A Diesel Pusher, you can rest assured that the dealer has more wiggle room to reduce the price.

That’s it, that’s how my wife does it. Believe me when I tell you that if you stick to your guns you are going to get an excellent deal on your next RV.

Happy RVing

The following techniques are used by serious and expert negotiators. Watch for them when negotiating. When they appear, know immediately that you are negotiating with an expert. Over time, you will find them becoming more and more a part of your negotiating style.

o When you have gotten most of what you wanted while remaining within your negotiating limits, stop negotiating.

You will almost always get about 80 percent of what you want; and trying to get the other 20 percent frequently jeopardizes the 80 percent you have already gotten. It may not be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it is more than adequate for the good life.

o Never argue.

Remember, you are a negotiator and arguing only lets the other person know that you are not a first-class negotiator. Argue if you must; but understand that arguing is never an appropriate substitute for negotiating.

o If you can avoid it, never let the negotiations reduce to a single issue.

Avoid letting negotiations reduce to a single condition either on your list or mine. If necessary, reintroduce a condition that seems to have already been resolved. Why? If there is only one issue, then it quickly becomes a simple yes or no decision. In this case, there is no further room for negotiating; and a box has been created. One of us has to decide yes or no. It becomes a ‘take it or leave it’ proposition. If things get to this point, we are no longer negotiating. Keep enough issues ‘on the table’ to assure that there is always negotiating content or ‘grist for the mill,’ as they say.

o Remember that people do not want the same things.

You know someone is running a game on you if he/she says, ‘After all, we want the same thing.’ This is virtually never true. You want to actualize your interest and I want to actualize mine. We may have some shared or common interest; but we will also have some interest that are not shared. As a skilled negotiator, you will recognize and acknowledge both our shared interests and those interests we hold as individuals.

o Understand and mention my needs, problems, and interests.

When you do this, though, do not state them as facts. Say instead, ‘If I understand, you have a problem (need/interest) that I understand in this way…’ Once you have mentioned the problem as you understand it, ask me, ‘Does it seem to you like I understand or do we need to talk about this some more so I better understand?’ Always convey a sense to me that I, my problems, my needs, and my interests are important to you and are being taken seriously by you.

o Always keep your focus on task – on the negotiations.

Never shift focus to me or to personalities. Even when you are talking with me about your perceptions of my problems, needs, and interests, do so in ways that are related to our negotiations – to the transfer conditions.

oFocus on-task with flexibility.

If my style is to let the conversation drift, socialize, talk about other things, or to move away from task, ‘go with the flow.’ Always be personable, friendly, and interested. At the same time, though, look for opportunities to return to task gently, tactfully, and without becoming forceful or pushy.

o Be willing to walk.

Never get into a position where you are not willing to walk, terminate the negotiations. If I ever get the impression that you will hang in there no matter what, you are totally at my mercy. At a minimum, I will probably be able to get you to give me more than you really wanted to give. Also, I will simply ‘dig in’ and give no more than I have already offered. In fact, if I really believe that you will not walk, you may find me actually reducing my offer. Simply remember that, if you ever reach a point where you are unwilling to walk, the negotiations are over. The outcome is totally under my control.

oYou are horse trading.

Remember that 80 percent of the movement will occur during the final 20 percent of the process. Here we are talking about an old horse trading principle. Always save a little of your consideration for the final moments of the negotiating process. Do not run out of negotiating room until you get to the end of the negotiating process. Always have a couple of options left for horse trading. Another benefit is that I will leave the negotiation feeling that I got the last concession. That will make me feel a little smug and feel as if I am the superior negotiator. Among other things, this will probably lead to my underestimating you the next time we negotiate.

o Don’t become impatient.

The person with whom you are negotiating will gradually get a little frustrated and will want to move the process along. He/she will probably be impatient with only 20 percent of the progress being made during the first 80 percent of the available time. Here, the key is to relax, be patient, and simply out wait the other person. There is a strong likelihood that he/she will make an additional offer, increase his/her consideration, or do something else to move the process along. Just by being more patient and waiting, you have gotten more of what you wanted.

So far, I have tried to maintain a proper level of objectivity and style. Since we have come to the end of this article, though, I thought that you might like to know about one additional game that may not quite maintain the professional demeanor that has been present to this point. This has been designated as ‘The Call Girl Principle.’ The principle says that the value of a service declines in direct proportion to the amount of time it has been since you have received the service. Of course, this is why the call girl always wants to be paid in advance. Good negotiators always make sure that there are definite arrangements made for how much they are going to receive and when they are going to receive it. Whenever possible, they receive it in advance. ‘You do what you are going to do for me and then I will do what I am going to do for you.’ By this point, though, you will undoubtedly be able to go the call girl principle one better. Try it when you and your spouse are in the lover’s dimension of your marriage. What is this advanced principle called? You guessed it – simultaneous sex. As with many things in life, it is usually better to do it together than to take turns.