For non-native English speakers · Negotiation
Sound sure of yourself
in negotiation.
Ask for the number, hold the line, keep the relationship. Your grammar is not the problem. What makes English sound confident is which word takes the weight, where the pause goes, and where the voice rises and falls — and nobody teaches that. Below are real lines for this situation with those three things marked. Hear each one said well, record yours, and see how close you came. Free, no account.
gold = the word that takes the weight · ‖ = a pause · ↗ the voice rises · ↘ the voice lands · → stays up, more to come
8 of 100 lines in this path
Lines people actually say.
Marked by the same engine that marks your own script in the app. The gold word is the one to lean on; everything else is lighter than you think.
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mediumAsking for more
Opening a pay conversation
I'd like to talk about my salary.
I've taken on the reporting function since March and I think the number should reflect it.
Hear this line said well → -
hardHolding the line
Silence as a tactic
I've made the ask.
I'm going to stop talking now.
Hear this line said well → -
easyTrading and closing
Getting it in writing
Could you put that in an email?
Not because I don't trust you.
Because in four months neither of us will remember it the same way.
Hear this line said well → -
mediumBuying and vendors
When the vendor will not move
If the price is fixed, tell me and I'll stop asking.
Then let's talk about what else you can include.
Hear this line said well → -
mediumEveryday negotiation
Renegotiating a favour
I said I'd help on Saturday and I can't do the whole day.
I can do the morning.
Is that any use?
Hear this line said well → -
mediumPreparation and framing
Opening with the frame
Before numbers, can we agree what we are actually deciding?
I think it is scope, not price.
Hear this line said well → -
hardEmotional pressure
Handling guilt
I understand the position it puts you in.
That is not a reason for me to accept less than this is worth.
Hear this line said well → -
hardInside the organisation
Handling competing demands
Two of you have asked for the same week of my team.
I am not going to choose.
You two decide and tell me.
Hear this line said well →
What this path covers
The moments inside it.
- Asking for a raiseMake the case without flinching
- Countering an offerPush back on the number
- Contract termsTrade what you can, hold what you cannot
- Walking awaySay no and keep the door open
One last thing
Hear it in a voice like yours,
then in yours.
Pick the accent closest to yours and hear one voice say a line flat, then confident — same words, same accent. Then practise any of these lines against it. Your own voice takes a ten-second read and a free account. No card.