Presenting and Framing the Issues

First, consider how you will present your case to the other negotiator. In addition, you will need to consider how to provide ample supporting facts and arguments for your case and to be able to anticipate and refute the other party’s arguments with counterarguments.

Because of the breadth and diversity of issues that can be included in negotiations, it is not possible to specify all the procedures that can be used to assemble information. There are, however, some good general guides that can be used. A negotiator can ask these questions:

1. What facts support my point of view? How can I validate this information as credible?

2. Whom may I consult or talk with to help me elaborate or clarify the facts? What records, files, or data sources exist that support my arguments? Can I enlist experts to support my arguments?

3. Have these issues been negotiated before by others under similar circumstances? Can I consult those negotiators to determine what major arguments they used, which ones were successful, and which were not?

4. What is the other party’s point of view likely to be? What are her or his interests? What arguments is she or he likely to make? How can I respond to those arguments and seek more creative positions that go further in addressing both sides’ issues and interests?

5. How can I develop and present the facts so they are most convincing? What visual aids, pictures, charts, graphs, expert testimony, and the like can be helpful or make the best case?