Business English- Longer negotiating phrases activities
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
More complex and effective negotiating phrases practice through a jigsaw activity and other card games, including two brainstorming stages.
Lesson Plan Content:
Longer negotiating phrases activities
Put together the cards that you are given to make basic phrases for starting negotiations, taking part in the body of negotiations, and ending negotiations. The left-hand parts start with a capital letter and have the words on the left of the card. The right-hand halves of the phrases end with a full stop, question mark or dot dot dot (“.”, “?”, or “…”) and the writing is on the right of the card.
Use the headings cards to classify and check your phrases. The headings are in approximately the same order as a real negotiation. If the phrases that you made seem to fit in more than one place or nowhere, it probably means that you’ve matched the wrong cards together.
Hint: There should be this number of phrases in each category: 2/ 5/ 4/ 4/ 2/ 1/ 2
Add the cards with words in bold to the middle of your phrases to make longer versions of those basic negotiating phrases. If the middle cards don’t fit in the basic phrases that you made, you probably matched them wrongly.
Check as a class or with the answer key.
Circle words which make the sentences softer and underline words which make the phrases stronger (in the phrases that have such words).
Test each other on the phrases:
- Read out phrases with missing words for your partner to complete
- Choose a middle card and help your partner make a phrase including those words
- Read out the name of a category and help your partner make suitable phrases
Do the brainstorming stages below.
Deal the same cards out between you then try to use as many different phrases with the words on your cards as you can during a roleplay negotiation. If you use the words in a phrase which hasn’t been said yet, you can discard that card. The parts in italics can be changed, and the parts in brackets can be left out. The person with fewest cards left in their hand at the end of the game is the winner.
Deal out the Functions Cards. If you say something with the function on one of your cards during the negotiation with different language to what anyone has said before, you can discard that card. The person with fewest cards left in their hand at the end of the game is the winner.
Cards to cut up
|
(First of all,) after sales service is
|
fairly/ very/ really/ extremely |
important (to us).
|
|
Our/ My |
initial/ final |
offer is…
|
|
I’m afraid there is (just) one
|
possible/ potential/ minor/ tiny/ major/ important |
problem/ issue/ sticking point (which is…). |
|
Actually, I was hoping for something
|
a tiny bit/ slightly/ quite a lot/ much/ far |
better/ cheaper/ shorter/ …er/ more…. |
|
Unfortunately, we would find a 25% down payment
|
a little/ somewhat/ rather/ very/ extremely |
difficult to agree to/ hard to accept (because…) |
|
Sorry, we can’t move |
much/ at all/ any more
|
on the delivery date (due to…) |
|
I’m sorry but I’m not |
really/ currently/ presently
|
in a position to be able to accept/ offer... |
|
(Sure,) I can be
|
a little/ a little more/ fairly/ quite/ very |
flexible on storage temperature. |
|
Great. I’m |
fairly/ very/ really
|
happy with those payment terms. |
|
Okay. I can meet you
|
more or less/ exactly |
halfway (on price). |
|
Alright. I can |
probably/ almost certainly/ definitely
|
agree to/ shake on that (if/ as long as/ providing…) |
|
If you can’t agree to that, another
|
possible |
option is to renegotiate every year. |
|
In that case, could you
|
possibly/ agree to |
accept payment three days in advance? |
|
I see. Well. Hmm. Okay, I’ve thought of a
|
possible/ win-win/ great/ perfect |
solution. What about (if)…?
|
|
(Okay, I understand your position, but) how about |
if we offer(ed) you |
a bulk discount?
|
|
Well, I don’t think we’re making
|
any/ much |
progress (here/ on that point/ at the moment,) so…
|
|
So, we (both) |
seem to |
agree on that, so let’s (move on and) talk about delivery. |
|
(So,) can I
|
just |
go over what we’ve agreed/ sum up our agreement? |
|
(Okay, so) I’ll check |
with my boss/ with the person in charge/ with… |
and get back to you in the next couple of days.
|
|
(Great, so) can I have that in writing by
|
close of business on |
Friday? |
Headings cards to cut up
|
1. Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
|
2. Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
|
3. Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
|
4. Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
|
5. Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
|
6. Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
|
7. Mentioning future contact
|
Suggested answers with headings
|
1. Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
||
|
(First of all,) after sales service is
|
fairly/ very/ really/ extremely |
important (to us).
|
|
Our/ My |
initial/ final |
offer is…
|
|
2. Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
||
|
I’m afraid there is (just) one
|
possible/ potential/ minor/ tiny/ major/ important |
problem/ issue/ sticking point (which is…). |
|
Actually, I was hoping for something
|
a tiny bit/ slightly/ quite a lot/ much/ far |
better/ cheaper/ shorter/ …er/ more…. |
|
Unfortunately, we would find a 25% down payment
|
a little/ somewhat/ rather/ very/ extremely |
difficult to agree to/ hard to accept (because…) |
|
Sorry, we can’t move |
much/ at all/ any more
|
on the delivery date (due to…) |
|
I’m sorry but I’m not |
really/ currently/ presently
|
in a position to be able to accept/ offer CoD. |
|
3. Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
||
|
(Sure,) I can be
|
a little/ a little more/ fairly/ quite/ very |
flexible on storage temperature. |
|
Great. I’m |
fairly/ very/ really
|
happy with those payment terms. |
|
Okay. I can meet you
|
more or less/ exactly |
halfway (on price). |
|
Alright. I can |
probably/ almost certainly/ definitely
|
agree to/ shake on that (if/ as long as/ providing…) |
|
4. Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
||
|
If you can’t agree to that, another
|
possible |
option is to renegotiate every year. |
|
In that case, could you
|
possibly/ agree to |
accept payment three days in advance? |
|
I see. Well. Hmm. Okay, I’ve thought of a
|
possible/ win-win/ great/ perfect |
solution. What about (if)…?
|
|
(Okay, I understand your position, but) how about |
if we offer(ed) you |
a bulk discount?
|
|
5. Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
||
|
Well, I don’t think we’re making
|
any/ much |
progress (here/ on that point/ at the moment,) so… |
|
So, we (both) |
seem to |
agree on that, so let’s (move on and) talk about delivery. |
|
6. Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
||
|
(So,) can I
|
just |
go over what we’ve agreed/ sum up our agreement? |
|
7. Mentioning future contact
|
||
|
(Okay, so) I’ll check |
with my boss/ with the person in charge/ with… |
and get back to you in the next couple of days.
|
|
(Great, so) can I have that in writing by
|
close of business on |
Friday? |
Brainstorming stages
Gapped version
Without looking above, write at least one suitable thing in each gap below. Words not above are also often possible.
|
1. Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
||
|
(First of all,) after sales service is
|
|
important (to us).
|
|
Our/ My |
initial/ final |
…
|
|
2. Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
||
|
I’m afraid there is (just) one
|
possible/ potential/ minor/ tiny/ major/ important |
|
|
Actually, I was hoping for something
|
|
better/ cheaper/ shorter/ …er/ more…. |
|
Unfortunately, we would find a 25% down payment
|
a little/ somewhat/ rather/ very/ extremely |
|
|
Sorry, we can’t move |
much/ at all/ any more
|
|
|
I’m sorry but I’m not |
|
in a position to be able to accept/ offer... |
|
3. Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
||
|
|
a little/ a little more/ fairly/ quite/ very |
flexible on storage temperature. |
|
Great. I’m |
|
happy with those payment terms. |
|
Okay. I can meet you
|
more or less/ exactly |
|
|
Alright. I can |
|
agree to/ shake on that (if/ as long as/ providing…) |
4. Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
||
|
If you can’t agree to that, another
|
|
option is to renegotiate every year. |
|
|
possibly/ agree to |
accept payment three days in advance? |
|
I see. Well. Hmm. Okay, I’ve thought of a
|
|
solution. What about (if)…? |
|
(Okay, I understand your position, but) how about |
|
a bulk discount?
|
|
5. Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
||
|
Well, I don’t think we’re making
|
any/ much |
|
|
So, we (both) |
|
agree on that, so let’s (move on and) talk about delivery. |
|
6. Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
||
|
|
just |
go over what we’ve agreed/ sum up our agreement? |
|
7. Mentioning future contact
|
||
|
(Okay, so) I’ll check |
with my boss/ with the person in charge/ with… |
|
|
(Great, so) can I have that in writing by
|
|
Friday? |
Mixed missing words
Use these mixed answers to help and to start checking your answers.
- (So,) can I
- (Sure,) I can be
- a tiny bit/ slightly/ quite a lot/ much/ far
- and get back to you in the next couple of days
- close of business on
- difficult to agree to/ hard to accept (because…)
- fairly/ very/ really
- fairly/ very/ really/ extremely
- halfway (on price).
- if we offer(ed) you
- In that case, could you
- offer is
- on the delivery date (due to…)
- possible
- possible/ win-win/ great/ perfect
- probably/ almost certainly/ definitely
- problem/ issue/ sticking point (which is…).
- progress (here/ on that point/ at the moment,) so…
- really/ currently/ presently
- seem to
Check above. Many other answers are possible, so check with your teacher if you wrote something different.
Brainstorming by category
Write at least two suitable phrases for each function below, including longer phrases.
|
1. Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
|
|
|
2. Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
|
|
|
3. Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
|
|
|
4. Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
|
|
|
5. Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
|
|
|
6. Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
|
|
|
7. Mentioning future contact
|
|
|
Using the mixed missing words above to help, then compare with the original phrases. Many other phrases are possible, so please check if you wrote something different.
Functions cards to cut up
|
Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
Setting out your position (before negotiating)
|
|
Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
|
Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
|
Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
|
Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
|
Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
Summarising/ Checking your agreement
|
|
Mentioning future contact
|
Mentioning future contact
|
|
Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
Negative reactions (insisting, rejecting, etc)
|
|
Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
Positive reactions (accepting, softening your position, compromising, etc)
|
|
Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
Further suggestions/ Finding solutions to negative reactions
|
|
Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
Moving the discussion on/ Ending the discussion
|
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