How to use these prompts
The trap is going into a negotiation thinking only about what you want. Whoever negotiates well starts from what the other party wants and where the two interests meet. The prompts below have you prepare both sides: your position and the counterpart's. Seeing the negotiation through their eyes is what lets you find the agreement that seemed impossible to you.
A note of reality: the AI doesn't know the person across from you nor their real situation. It prepares the likely scenarios for you, not the truth. And the tactics it suggests must be used honestly: a negotiation won through deception poisons the relationship and is paid for later. Aim for the solid agreement, not the surprise blow.
The prompt library
Prepare your position
Help me prepare for this negotiation. Define with me: my
realistic objective, the point below which it's better not to close (and
what I do if I get there), what I can concede at low cost to me but
of value to the other party, and my plan B if everything falls through. No generic
phrases: I want precise numbers and thresholds.
The negotiation, what's at stake and my situation:
Put yourself in the other party's shoes
Put yourself in the shoes of the counterpart in this negotiation. What do they
really want, beyond what they'll state? What are their pressures and
their fears? Where do our interests coincide and where do they clash?
Point me to two things that are worth a lot to them and cost me little.
Who I'm facing and what I know about their situation:
Anticipate the objections
In this negotiation what are they most likely to object? Give me the
five hardest objections and, for each one, a reply that isn't
defensive but brings the conversation back to value. Include
the objection I fear most. No tricks: honest replies that
hold up.
My proposal and the context:
Simulate the negotiation
Let's rehearse: you play the counterpart in this negotiation, tough but
realistic. We'll run the exchange line by line, you push on
my weak points. After a few exchanges, step out of the role and tell me where I
gave in too soon and where I could have held my ground.
The negotiation and the role you have to play:
The phrases for the critical moments
Give me the right phrases for the difficult moments of a negotiation: how
to ask for more without seeming greedy, how to say no while keeping the
dialogue open, how to react to a "take it or leave it" pressure,
how to buy time without seeming weak. Short phrases, said calmly.
The context of the negotiation:
A concrete example
Marco is a freelance graphic designer and a client wants to cut his fee for a project by thirty percent. His instinct is to accept out of fear of losing the client. He first uses the preparation prompt: the AI helps him set his real minimum threshold (below which the work isn't worth it for him) and to identify what he can concede at low cost, for example a more comfortable deadline instead of the discount.
Then he puts himself in the client's shoes with the dedicated prompt: he understands that the client probably has a rigid budget, not that he's undervaluing him. This changes everything. Finally he simulates the negotiation: the AI plays the client who insists, and Marco realizes he gives in too quickly. He trains himself to hold his ground. In the real negotiation he proposes keeping the fee while reducing one feature of the project, instead of lowering the rate: the client accepts, because the problem was the total budget, not his value. The agreement holds because he found where the two interests met.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If it suggests aggressive or dishonest tactics
Some replies aim to "win" with pressure or half-truths. Refuse them: add "I want an agreement that holds over time, not a victory that burns the relationship; no manipulative tactics". A healthy negotiation seeks the agreement, not the other's defeat.
If the objections it prepares are too weak
If the AI plays a soft counterpart, you don't really train. Ask it to raise the level: "play the toughest and most skeptical counterpart possible, attack my weak points without mercy". Better to sweat in the rehearsal than to be surprised at the real table.
If you don't know the counterpart
The AI hypothesizes, it doesn't know. Give it everything you've gathered about the person or the company (situation, known constraints, previous negotiations) and ask it for scenarios based on that. Where the data is missing, have it tell you: "tell me which of your assumptions are uncertain, so I can verify them". Stated assumptions are useful; hidden ones aren't.
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Prepare your walk-away threshold before everything else, and write it down. It's the number below which you get up from the table, and it must be decided cold, not in the heat of the negotiation, when the fear of losing the deal makes you accept things you'd refuse with a clear head. The AI helps you set it lucidly beforehand; at the table, just remembering it exists lets you negotiate without desperation. Whoever can walk away already has the power.
Frequently asked questions
Can the AI negotiate in my place, for instance by writing the negotiation emails?
It can write the drafts, but the decisions and the concessions are yours: a negotiation is made of choices with real consequences for your money or your work. Use the AI to prepare the moves and phrase the messages, then reread and decide yourself what to offer and what to refuse. Delegating the words is fine, delegating the judgment isn't.
Do the AI's negotiation tactics work in reality?
The solid principles yes: preparing, understanding the other party, knowing your own alternative. But a real negotiation depends on people, emotions and context that the AI doesn't see. Use its suggestions as preparation, not as a script: at the table you'll have to read the person in front of you and adapt, which no prompt can do in your place.
Does the most prepared party always win the negotiation?
Preparation shifts the odds, it doesn't guarantee the result. Sometimes the other party simply has more power or a better alternative, and no technique changes that. But whoever arrives prepared isn't caught off guard, doesn't give in out of panic and recognizes a good agreement when they see it. The best negotiation isn't the one you "win": it's the one in which both parties respect the agreement the next day.