Some people who attend negotiation seminars hope to learn the secret to being a master negotiator. Unfortunately, there is no secret. There is only a body of guidelines, principles, strategies, tactics, and skills to learn and practice. There is also psychology and an understanding of human behavior. And, of course, there are communication and interpersonal skills.

As such, it requires us to use all of our communication skills: listening, asking questions, sharing information, interpreting information, framing proposals, reading body language, influencing, and persuading. It requires empathy and understanding, knowledge and insight, diplomacy and tact

A good negotiator is open-minded enough to accept that some of his original ideas were wrong, and flexible enough to learn and adapt along the way.