The Language of Negotiation — Professional English
The Language of Negotiation — Professional English
⏱ 5 minutes
Functional Language + Speaking
At The Star Casino in Sydney, supplier negotiations happened every week: linen companies, food suppliers, glassware vendors. I sat in on dozens of them. The pattern was always the same: listen first, make a counter-offer with a reason, find common ground, close with something concrete. The language of negotiation is learnable. Here it is.
🎯 Language Focus
| Opening | I’d like to begin by… / Could we first clarify… / Before we discuss price, may I ask… |
| Making an offer | We’d be in a position to offer… / Our initial position would be… / We could go as far as… |
| Countering | That’s not quite what we had in mind. / We were thinking more along the lines of… / Could you come down to…? |
| Closing | I think we have a deal. / Let’s confirm that in writing. / Shall we agree on…? |
✏️ Quick Practice — Try It!
💡 Your 5-Minute Takeaway
Negotiation is about interests, not positions. Don’t say “I want X.” Say “Given our volume, we were expecting something closer to X, because…” — reason + number = negotiating power.
Independent educational resource. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Grammar reference: Swan, Practical English Usage. Frameworks: PPP, TBLT, ESA (standard ELT methodology).
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