In almost every negotiation, the side that has prepared more wins. Yet most people walk into a contract talk, a job offer, or a raise conversation having rehearsed nothing but their opening line. This free preparation checklist is the most useful tool in the kit for getting ready, so you go in clear, calm, and hard to rattle.
Here's how to use it.
Why Preparation Decides the Outcome
Negotiation feels like a live performance, but it's really won in the prep. When you've thought through your goal, your walk-away point, and the other side's interests in advance, you stop reacting and start steering. Preparation is also what keeps emotion from hijacking a high-stakes conversation.
What to Prepare
Before any important negotiation, get clear on:
- Your goal and your walk-away. Know the outcome you want and the point at which you'd walk, your best alternative if no deal happens (your BATNA). This is your source of calm.
- Their interests. What does the other side actually want, beneath their stated position? The deal usually lives in the overlap.
- Your concessions. Decide in advance what you can trade, and what you won't.
- Your opening and your questions. Plan how you'll frame the conversation and the questions that surface their real priorities.
When to Use It
Pull out the checklist for any negotiation that matters: an important contract or engagement, a new job offer, a sales meeting, an annual raise, a key partnership. The higher the stakes, the more the prep pays off.
Get the Checklist
Make a copy of the Preparation Checklist and run through it before your next important conversation. For the in-the-room skills that pair with it, see our summary of Crucial Conversations, and Harvard's Program on Negotiation offers a deeper negotiation-preparation checklist as further reading.
For negotiation best practices in a sales context, read The Art of Negotiation in Sales.