Personal Power, Communication and Effective Persuasion

The purpose of this assignment is for you to think about personal power type and how it can influence our ability to negotiate, communicate and persuade others during a negotiation.

In this assignment, you will write a research paper (5-6 pages) which will examine communication techniques, the use of power, and how the concepts of effective persuasion are applied to a specific situation.

Consider a scenario you have experienced or observed which involved a negotiation, persuasive techniques and balance of power. This could be a situation you experienced at work, home, school, shopping for a big ticket item or even negotiating at a yard sale or flea market.  You may also choose a video clip found on the Internet which involves a negotiation as the basis for this assignment. There is a link to a sample video scenario in the webilography entitled: Workplace Communication.

1. Describe the scenario you are using as the basis for this assignment. The scenario must include elements of negotiation, persuasive techniques, and balance of power.  If your selected scenario does not contain certain elements, then use what you have learned from your studies in this course, along with your research, to expand the scenario to include these elements. Provide a rationale for your choices.  If you are using a video, please include the URL in your description.
2. Describe what you believe to be the top three communication issues presented in the scenario.  Explain your choices.
3. Identify the sources of power used in the negotiation and explain whether the sources of power were perceived or real. Use examples to justify your response.
4. Describe the relative balance of powers between the parties in the scenario.
5. Assume you were the mediator in the chosen scenario and recommend strategies which might reduce the conflict between the parties.
6. List and describe the top 5 factors you believe should be considered when building an effective negotiation strategy.  Explain your rationale for choosing the factors you included.
7. Discuss how persuasion differs from negotiation and describe how each was used in the scenario. Explain if persuasion or negotiation was more effective in the scenario. Justify your response.