Podcast on Negotiation

In this episode, we welcome Nuno Delicado, negotiation expert, founding partner of Pluris, and author of Impact Negotiations Toolkit. With experience advising, training, and supporting negotiators across countries, sectors, and complex situations, Nuno brings a practical and deeply human perspective on what it means to negotiate well.
Together, we explore why he wrote Impact Negotiations Toolkit and why the word “impact” is at the heart of his approach. Rather than seeing negotiation only as a way to win, close a deal, or secure an immediate outcome, Nuno invites us to think about negotiation through its lasting effects: on relationships, organizations, communities, and the wider world.
The conversation looks at how impactful negotiation differs from traditional frameworks, what negotiators can do before, during, and after a conversation, and why reflection is essential for learning and long-term success. Nuno shares insights into the main components of his toolkit, including preparation, connection, creativity, decision-making, and continuous improvement.
We also discuss what separates negotiators who consistently create meaningful results from those who do not, how to navigate strong power imbalances, and whether there are universal principles of negotiation across cultures and sectors. Nuno challenges common myths about negotiation and reflects on how hybrid work, artificial intelligence, and cross-cultural collaboration are reshaping the way we negotiate today.
This episode is for anyone who wants to move beyond short-term wins and learn how negotiation can become a tool for better decisions, stronger relationships, and positive change. We close with Nuno’s view on what makes someone a truly great negotiator and the one idea he hopes every listener takes away from Impact Negotiations Toolkit.
More free tools from Nuno's great book can be found at: https://www.impactnegotiations.org/.

In this episode, we talk with David A. Hunsaker, Hong Zhang, and Alice J. Lee, authors of the paper “Beyond Propensity: Thresholds, Costs, and Interventions in Negotiation Avoidance,” about why people often choose not to negotiate, even when negotiation could benefit them.
The conversation begins with the origins of their research project on negotiation avoidance, a phenomenon that is both common and surprisingly underexamined. Starting from a relatable observation that even negotiation scholars sometimes avoid negotiating, we ask why people decide not to negotiate at all, before they ever reach the bargaining table.
We discuss the paper’s finding that negotiation avoidance is widespread: more than 95% of participants reported avoiding negotiation in at least some situations, and people avoided negotiation up to 51% of the time. The episode explores why studying the decision to initiate negotiation is just as important as studying what happens once people are already engaged in the negotiation itself.
The authors introduce two key concepts from the paper. The first is Threshold for Negotiation Initiation, which refers to the point at which a person decides that negotiation is “worth it.” We examine how people make that decision, including the role of percentage-based thinking: the same dollar savings may feel more or less worthwhile depending on the total price of the item.
The second concept is Willingness to Pay to Avoid Negotiation. We explore the striking finding that nearly half of participants were willing to pay extra to avoid negotiating, and consider what people may really be trying to avoid: time, discomfort, conflict, embarrassment, or the fear of seeming inappropriate.
The episode also looks at the tension revealed in the car-buying scenario: many people preferred having the possibility of negotiation, yet later said they would pay to avoid actually doing it. This opens a broader discussion of the cognitive, emotional, and social barriers that keep people from initiating negotiations.
Finally, we discuss the interventions tested in the paper. A financial comparison showing that negotiation could be worth more per hour than a person’s usual wage did not significantly increase negotiation initiation, while a social norm intervention, showing that negotiation is common, did. The conversation considers why financial logic may not be enough, why social permission matters, and what practical advice the authors would give to consumers, employees, managers, and negotiation educators.
We close by asking what future research should explore next in understanding when, why, and how people decide to negotiate.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Greg Williams, a leading expert in negotiation, body language, emotional intelligence, and microexpressions, to explore what is really happening beneath the surface of every negotiation.
Most people focus on the words being spoken in a negotiation. But tone, posture, facial expressions, eye movement, gestures, silence, and subtle behavioral shifts often reveal just as much as the conversation itself. Dr. Williams has spent decades studying how these nonverbal signals influence trust, tension, confidence, power, and decision-making.
Drawing from his book, Body Language Secrets To Win More Negotiations, Greg explains why body language is not about guessing what someone is thinking, but about becoming a more careful observer of patterns, context, and emotional change. We discuss what nonverbal cues can reveal, what they cannot reliably tell us, and why misreading body language can damage trust if negotiators jump to conclusions too quickly.
Throughout the conversation, Greg shares practical insights on how to recognize important signals at the negotiation table, including microexpressions, subtle shifts in behavior, emotional triggers.
We also explore how negotiators can manage their own body language to project confidence, openness, and control without appearing artificial, aggressive, or manipulative. Greg offers guidance for anyone who wants to become a better listener, a sharper observer, and a more emotionally intelligent communicator.
The conversation begins with Greg reflecting on what first drew him to the nonverbal side of negotiation and how his decades of work shaped the central message of Body Language Secrets To Win More Negotiations. From there, we examine what body language can and cannot reveal, the first signals negotiators should watch for when entering a conversation, and the microexpressions or behavioral cues that are often missed when people focus too heavily on words alone.
Greg also discusses why context is essential when interpreting body language, including the influence of culture, personality, stress, power dynamics, and high-stakes pressure. We look at the most common mistakes people make when trying to read others, how to respond when someone’s words and body language do not seem to align, and how to avoid making assumptions that could weaken trust.
Later in the episode, Greg explains why some people seem naturally better at reading body language, whether this skill can be learned, and how negotiators can become more aware of the signals they are sending themselves. He also shares a practical exercise listeners can begin using immediately to become sharper observers in everyday conversations.
Whether you negotiate in business, leadership, sales, law, conflict resolution, relationships, or everyday life, this episode will help you better understand the signals people send before they ever say a word.

In this episode of the Podcast on Negotiation On Negotiation Stories on the Path to Peace, we speak with Joshua Weiss about the human stories that shape negotiation, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding. Josh reflects on his own path into the field, what first drew him to negotiation and mediation, and how his work has evolved through scholarship, practice, and teaching.
We also revisit his recent work on failure in negotiation, exploring what failure can teach us and why it remains such an important and often overlooked part of learning. From there, the conversation turns to the power of stories: why they matter so deeply in negotiation, what they reveal that courses and workshops alone sometimes cannot, and how personal experience can open new ways of understanding conflict, connection, and change.
A major focus of the episode is Josh’s new project, a community-based database of negotiation stories. He shares what inspired the initiative, how he hopes people will use it, and what makes it different from more traditional negotiation clearinghouses such as those at PON and DRRC. We also explore the kinds of stories that stay with us and what makes a negotiation story especially meaningful.
In the second part of the episode, we turn to the Abraham Path Initiative. Josh introduces the vision behind this work and reflects on what drew him personally to it. Together, we discuss how encounter across cultures and communities can create new possibilities for understanding and peacebuilding, and how movement, listening, and shared human experience can become part of a larger path toward peace.
Throughout the episode, we explore Josh’s personal journey into negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution, the lessons from his work on failure in negotiation, the role of stories in negotiation and peacebuilding, and the promise of his new database of negotiation stories from the community. We also discuss how this project differs from traditional negotiation case collections, the vision and significance of the Abraham Path Initiative, the way encounter across cultures can open space for peace, and the deeper connection between stories, understanding, and hope.

In this episode, we host Robin Kencel, a leading real estate broker in the U.S. Robin has been recognized on The Wall Street Journal's RealTrends rankings (including The Thousand/America’s Best lists), placing her team among the top performers nationally and in the top 1-1.5% across the U.S., with repeated state-level top-100 distinctions.
Together with Robin, we unpack how real estate negotiations really work, who holds leverage at different stages and how to align agents, principals, lenders, and lawyers. We look at pricing and anchoring in volatile markets, from comps and cap rates to when ignoring the “asking” price is the smartest move. Robin shows how to use structure as a bargaining tool, from contingencies and seller financing to creative concessions that unlock value, and how disciplined diligence, zoning, environmental risk, tenant rolls, can legitimately reopen terms without undermining trust. We talk BATNAs that truly matter, time pressure, managing multiple offers ethically, and the fine line between tactics and relationships: reading signals, countering nibbling, and keeping counterparties on-side to reach closing. You’ll hear where residential and commercial playbooks overlap (and where they don’t), plus two vivid case stories, a bidding war flipped into collaboration, and a near-miss rescued by reframing interests. We wrap with practical takeaways you can use immediately: questions to ask before the first call, a concession matrix for inspection findings, and a closing checklist, lessons that apply well beyond property, from leases for founders to any negotiation requiring speed, diligence, and structured creativity.
This episod is especially interesting to: buyers, sellers, founders negotiating leases, asset managers, and anyone who wants sharper due-diligence and deal-structuring skills.