In this episode, we welcome back Aditya Sehgal, who has taken years of real-world, high stakes negotiating experience and turned it into five accessible frameworks that you can apply to any business or personal situation – and navigate the toughest challenges and unlock decisive action with confidence and clarity.

In this conversation, we uncover the deeper psychology that makes negotiation work - self-control, long-term thinking, and unwavering commitment to building trust and relationship. We break down why ‘win-win’ is the smartest long-term strategy: it establishes a mutually beneficial, trustworthy relationship that compounds over time. We explore how lowering self-interest builds trust, and why silence, questions and the emotional aftertaste shape outcomes far more than any script.

Ready to negotiate with confidence? Press play and unlock the principles, psychology and moves that will step change how you approach negotiation.

Key Takeaways:

1. Play the long game - win-win is the smartest strategy.
Negotiation isn’t a showdown; it’s the start of a relationship. When both sides win over time, trust compounds, future negotiations get easier, and the relationship becomes an asset not a battle.

2. Self-interest down, trust up.
Lowering perceived self-interest is one of the fastest ways to build trust. Show you’re not just optimising for yourself, and the other side becomes more open, honest, and collaborative.

3. Control yourself, not the other side.
The way to stay calm and influence the outcome is to be fully comfortable with the worst-case scenario in advance. When you know what you’ll do if things fall apart, emotion loses its grip and clarity takes over.

4. Tactics work only when psychology does.
Let the other side go first. Use silence. Ask open questions. Flinch. Play the reluctant seller. But remember: these tactics only create impact when they’re grounded in trust, empathy and long-term thinking - not manipulation.

5. End on goodwill - it’s what people remember.
People don’t remember every detail of the deal; they remember the emotional aftertaste. Close on happiness: add surprise, signal goodwill, show they matter, and give something of extra value that costs you little but means a lotto them.

Want to learn more?

Find out more about Aditya Sehgal’s Fast Frameworks project https://www.adityasehgal.com/

Deep dive into the high-impact negotiation frameworks:

Part 1 Negotiation principles https://www.adityasehgal.com/p/high-impact-negotiation-frameworks

Part 2 Early-stage tactics https://www.adityasehgal.com/p/high-impact-negotiation-frameworks-160

Part 3 Middle-stage tactics https://www.adityasehgal.com/p/high-impact-negotiation-frameworks-37a

Part 4 End-stage tactics https://www.adityasehgal.com/p/high-impact-negotiation-frameworks-b40

Part 5 Pressure and unethical tactics https://www.adityasehgal.com/p/high-impact-negotiation-frameworks-7fe

Get inspired by Aditya Sehgal’s posts on Substack https://substack.com/@adisehgal