The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal

By: Seth Freeman, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Seth Freeman

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Negotiation is a big part of life - from buying a car or a house, taking a new job, or working out a serious conflict. Yet it's easy to believe we're usually at a disadvantage - that others are born negotiators, while we are not. Nothing could be further from the truth. Negotiation is a skill that just about everyone can learn to do well.

Presented by a master negotiator, these 24 lectures teach you how to approach all phases of a negotiation and deal with a wide range of problems. Professor Freeman shows you how to negotiate effectively in both competitive and collaborative situations. You learn the art of handling sharp tactics, haggling, psychological traps, and other challenges, while always being "hard on the problem and soft on the person" - which is the key to achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.

The course is organized around a mnemonic device, developed by Professor Freeman, that can serve in any negotiation situation. Called "I FORESAW IT," this indispensable framework guides you in assembling the strongest possible case, showing you how to evaluate such factors as creative options, independent criteria, and your best alternative to a negotiated agreement. Professor Freeman enriches his presentation with scores of fascinating anecdotes and case histories that vividly demonstrate what works and what doesn't when you sit down at the negotiating table.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2014 The Great Courses (P)2014 The Teaching Company, LLC

What One Should Have Learned as a Child but Didn't

What made the experience of listening to The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal the most enjoyable?

It confirms that treating people with respect and kindness is still valued. Sometimes it feels as if one is alone when believing in, and practicing, such values.

What other book might you compare The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal to and why?

The Art of War. Many of the same principals apply.

What three words best describe Professor Seth Freeman’s voice?

EngagingExpressiveKind

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Unfortunately in a negative way. When discussing confrontation in lecture 24, it struck me - in my "professional" interactions with management over 33 years - how most high tech manager's behaviors are in direct opposition to every one of the points Prof. Freeman makes about appropriate and constructive confrontation.

Any additional comments?

I work with the quantitative aspect of corporate mergers and acquisitions. This lecture series provides context that greatly helps with that work. There are many "well DUH!!" moments until one realizes that these common sense suggestions are frequently, and often violently, violated.

29 of 29 people found this review helpful

Negotiating Through Everyday Live

A person might think this if for business people learning how to manipulate others into buying their product. They would be wrong. Actually this course has benefits for people of all walks of life. Everyone negotiates. We have to. It is part of life. We negotiate our friendships, our marriages, our relationships as employers and as employees. We negotiate our salaries, our mortgages, how much we pay for all sorts of products. And this course is about how to negotiate effectively and fairly. It is good for consumers in that it alerts you to bullish negotiating tactics that strong arm you into buying things you don’t need or paying too much. It also teaches you why it is not best to negotiate in such a way that you get all you possibly could in a deal. It teaches you the dangers of developing a reputation of being greedy, and the benefits of developing a reputation for being generous and fair.
Some of the better things I have learned is thinking through your BATNA, or best alternatives. How to research this and figure out what you can be happy doing without. The importance of third party objective estimates of what a thing is worth, like blue book values when buying or selling a car. Some of the stuff may be things you more or less knew before, but hearing the discussion concerning the phenomena gets you thinking about it in different way, and not only knowing it but understanding it.

24 of 24 people found this review helpful

Everything you need to win arguments w/ girlfriend

And I negotiated with my neighbor to take down his fence that he built on the edge of my driveway. This audiobook has paid for itself.

Narrator pauses at awkward times which made me think someone was calling or that someone texted me.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

A master course on negotiation

Where does The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love The Great Courses, and this new title has been no exception. I'm a veteran negotiator myself, and studied negotiation many years ago in graduate school, so I wasn't sure if listening to this would add anything new. Of course I should not have underestimated The Great Courses.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal?

A friend asked me if this course was more for professionals or for personal enrichment. I had to think about it. Could the course be equally valuable for both? The answer is a clear yes. For professionals, Professor Freeman provides detailed strategies and tactics for preparing for and conducting complex negotiations ranging from major business contracts to international peace treaties. And yet... he also takes care to apply all of these principles to the simplest of personal situations, with examples such as shopping for cars or dealing with the desk clerk when you check into a hotel and it's overbooked.

What about Professor Seth Freeman’s performance did you like?

Professor Freeman is a natural -- offering the perfect blend of authoritative research and compelling illustrative examples and anecdotes to help make the information both relevant and sticky.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is a long title -- with 24 lessons clocking in at over 12 hours. The listener would be advised to pace yourself so that you can reflect on each of the lessons.

Any additional comments?

Like most of The Great Courses, this is the audio version of a title that they sell on video format, with companion guidebooks. However, I did not feel like I was missing anything by listening via Audible.com.

59 of 69 people found this review helpful

My wife cried with joy when I used a tactic...

What did you love best about The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal?

I implemented one of the negotiation strategies with my wife one day when she had an issue with my mother. This tends to be a touchy subject in most marriages. I executed Dr. Freeman's advice to a T. We had the discussion (which would have usually lead to an argument with me defending my mother's position) in the morning and went to work. Upon arriving home, she brought be aside and talked to me for 45 minutes with tears in her eyes about how much she appreciated my approach and that I made her feel like the situation had gone away. That said, even if you are not in business, this book is sure to help you in your every day life.

Dr. Freeman did a great job putting the lecture together and tying everything together with real life scenarios. He is, in my opinion, the perfect mix of academic and professional who has experienced, first hand, negotiation situations in his previous roles as a corporate attorney. In addition, he provided compelling evidence, and as the best professors always do, provoked a critical thought process in the listener. The teaching execution was excellent and it was both insightful and entertaining to listen to!

What other book might you compare The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal to and why?

Some of the studies mentioned were also mentioned in "Transformational Leadership" another great course by Dr. Michael Roberto. The two books, however, had different perspectives on the research and were complimentary to each other.

Which character – as performed by Professor Seth Freeman – was your favorite?

Dr. Freeman was a great performer.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I implemented one of the negotiation strategies with my wife one day when she had an issue with my mother. This tends to be a touchy subject in most marriages. I executed Dr. Freeman's advice to a T. We had the discussion (which would have usually lead to an argument with me defending my mother's position) in the morning and went to work. Upon arriving home, she brought be aside and talked to me for 45 minutes with tears in her eyes about how much she appreciated my approach and that I made her feel like the situation had gone away. That said, even if you are not in business, this book is sure to help you in your every day life.

43 of 52 people found this review helpful

great info, poor presentation

I definitely wish I had found this book many years ago. it is extremely useful my only complaint is the narrator makes a lot of mistakes that were left in, trips over his words Etc. highly recommend giving it a chance regardless.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent & Practical Treatment of Negotiation

The topic of negotiation affects everyone's personal and professional life

Professor Seth Freeman treats the topic comprehensively and practically.

I wouldn't call his presentation riveting, but it effectively uses story telling to present the subject matter, from a practitioner's point of view.

I find the principles Seth Freeman teaches to be of great value in my personal life, as well as my professional life.

Therefore, I will come back to this resource again and again.

Heartily recommended for all who are serious about becoming even more skilled at negotiations.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The first two chapters are great

The first two chapters of this course are great and I learnt a lot. Vor example, where in life we bargain but often don't even realize we are. Or how important active listening is, and how it works. But after the third chapter, the course became a little boring.
Professor Freeman brings too many stories that just seem to kill time.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Outstanding review, new ideas and insights

I have been involved in sales my whole career and have studied negotiation techniques. This course is the best summary I can remember studying.
Professor Freeman starts with the most basic and continues to more complex tying the ideas together with real life events. The best part is that he points out how true, long view negotiations must be built on honesty and mutual respect. Tricks and lies have no place here.
Although I am retired and basically am out of sales, I will keep this lesson in my Kindle library for reference for negotiations are a part of everyday life.

13 of 17 people found this review helpful

Step by step - and acknowledges other well known negotiation books

Truly a great book. I have listened to never split the difference and getting to yes, both books have given me insight into the negotiation world. But this book has helped me breakthrough.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent Courses

Would you listen to The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal again? Why?

Yes, it's perfectly in depth and covers all the required aspects of negotiating. Most other, shorter titles, focus on one method, or one context, this course give valuable insights in to many techniques, scenarios and possible uses.

What did you like best about this story?

Quality of the material - it's pitched at a great, aproachable level for me.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Honestly, all of it. I probably took away a lesson / learning from each section.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

hmmmm, I gained some insights as to how my 2 year old is winning more battles than I'd like.

Any additional comments?

Listening to it if you're interested in negotiating. Once you listen to it you'll be glad you did.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Helped me improve

If you could sum up The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal in three words, what would they be?

This was a useful book, it gave me a hand full of techniques and new views. As a result I recommend the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal?

Detailed example of why someone would be aggressive in rejecting a deal.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

was okay

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

none

Any additional comments?

I feel that the book by Mark Goulston, "Just listen" would be far better than this book. IT's scientific explanation and breakdown of why people react the way they do and linking it to the 3 parts of the brain and how they touch the primal, emotional and logical sections taught me more about negotiation than this book. The core thing I took away from this book was how to think about win win situations. Getting to the core of the objective of different people.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

great speaker but content a bit drawn out.

Nice to hear all the stories but very easily summarised and you could save goes by going to the summary few lectures if you already know a bit about communication skills.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed learning negotiation skills

You learn lot about how people feel and what they care about in lifes day to day dealings, how best to negotiate a win win deal.

qualified negotiator

let me begin with thanks two the writer and the narrator there were many things that I was lakoff as a salesman I will be listening to this audio many more times brilliant work thanks again.
Phill

Superb

A comprehensive coverage of the art of negotiation- I was so impressed by this course

Thank you so much for this course

very useful, very important knowledge and skill for living, practical, Prof. Freeman has deep understanding in the field

worthy read

Great speaker; brought a whole new understanding to negotiations . Contebt can be used in a professional capacity and in your private life. Highly recommend this book for those who want to excel in business or who struggle with understanding people or who have difficult relationships.

Must read

This course is a gem. I wish I had this knowledge years ago.

The course teaches in great depth both interest based bargaining, for win-win negotiations, and distributive bargaining, for win-lose situations.

It will help you handle your professional life more effectively, without losing sight of the human aspect.

Must read.

Excellent Course

Would you listen to The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal again? Why?

Yes - there is a lot of very interesting material and listening again will reinforce the messages

Any additional comments?

This course has widespread application and is not just for business negotiators. People in many walks of life would find this interesting and there are many aspects that are applicable to different career paths.