[mstade]

My main technique in negotiation is to make sure I've framed my own boundaries. I always know at what point I walk away, what's simply non-negotiable. Everything else is on the table, and it helps me frame the conversation. If I find whoever I'm negotiating with simply won't meet the walk-away limit, I walk away. No hard feelings, no regret – all of those what-if feelings were dealt with as I set the minimum limit before going into the conversation.

As well, I make sure that minimum level is a level I am genuinely comfortable with. It's not a cop-out, it's a level where I will sign and feel happy about it. Anything more than that is a bonus, but if I don't get that I'm perfectly happy.

I've found since I started doing this, and staying true to actually walking away if things aren't working out, the whole conversation has been much more professional and easy. Key to this though is that walk away means walk away, no childish "give me this or else I walk" nonsense. If you walk, you walk, that's it. Non-negotiable means just that.

EDIT: Probably worth mentioning as well that I do plenty of research before setting that walk-away level. There's one aspect which is what I instinctively want, but then there's other things that come in to play as well of course, relocation if applicable, cost of living etc.