Negotiation
About
After fifty years and more than 100,000 deals spanning music licenses, real estate, and major copyright agreements for songs you’ve heard in movies and commercials, Randall Wixen has learned what actually works when real money and real relationships are on the line, and he’s put it all in this book.
Wixen isn’t providing a step-by-step system or a framework with a catchy acronym. Negotiation: Laugh and Learn is an honest, experience-driven guide to handling pressure, reading people, and finding outcomes that work in your favor. Wixen writes candidly about the deals that worked and the ones that fell apart, and what both taught him about holding his ground, letting something small go to get something bigger, and knowing the difference between the two.
Most of us negotiate every day over contracts, car prices, salaries, and things much closer to home. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just someone who wants to stop leaving things on the table, this straight-talking book will change how you walk into every negotiation from here on out. Wixen adds no theories or gimmicks to these pages, just his hard-earned wisdom from spending a career in rooms where it counted.
Praise for this book
"As a teacher, I found Negotiation: Laugh and Learn extremely insightful, and I even found myself thinking differently about my own profession. Teaching is, in many ways, an ongoing process of negotiation with our students. I believe we negotiate every single day without even realizing it: with students, but also with parents, colleagues, and, perhaps most often of all, with ourselves. As a mom, I also smiled because so many of the situations Randall D. Wixen describes play out in everyday family life. His advice is surprisingly universal. What stayed with me after I finished the book wasn't a clever negotiating trick or a memorable tactic. It was the author's constant reminder that negotiation is, above all, about people. I appreciated that perspective very much. Too often, negotiation is presented as a competition where someone has to win, but that misses the point. The writing is warm, engaging, and easy to read, while the illustrations add just the right touch of humor. I couldn't recommend it more highly."
"Negotiation: Laugh and Learn is a light-hearted guide designed to help you smoothly sail through the process of deal-making. Using anecdotes and examples from his own life, Randall D. Wixen offers practical insights that make negotiating easier in the real world. Personally, I learned a lot from this book. What makes it so effective is that Wixen doesn't make anything more complicated than it has to be. All the tips and observations in this book are applicable in everyday life. The author has an engaging way of putting his point across, using humor to make the book even more interesting to the general reader. I think this guide will appeal to a wide range of readers. One of my favorite stories was about The Doors, whom I've listened to for years. I definitely recommend this book."
"I love Randall D. Wixen’s writing style because he tells it like it is. He doesn’t use technical vocabulary; instead, he talks about situations you might face, from negotiating with a friend to buying a house or a car. The chapters are short, with clear ideas and anecdotes about interesting situations. I also liked that he expresses himself in an empathetic and honest way. For example, he approaches the topic of negotiation from the perspective of kindness and maintaining control, and he reminds us that aggressive tactics can create resentment on both sides. But he also teaches us when to stand our ground without letting emotions cloud our judgment. Negotiation: Laugh and Learn teaches us to be honest with ourselves, to observe and research thoroughly so we can reach the best agreements."