The language of negotiation — indexed for search and for practitioners preparing for real rooms. Each term links to how Swanx scores it in live simulation.
Anchoring
The first credible number or frame in a negotiation sets the reference point for everything that follows.
Anchoring is why the first offer matters disproportionately. In Swanx, anchoring scores track whether you set a credible opening position before the counterpart anchors you.
BATNA
Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement — your walk-away plan if this deal fails.
A strong BATNA gives you leverage without bluffing. Weak alternatives force premature concessions. Practice scenarios train you to signal alternatives without burning the relationship.
ZOPA
Zone of Possible Agreement — the overlap between both parties' acceptable outcomes.
Discovery questions expand the ZOPA by surfacing constraints and interests the counterpart has not stated. Swanx scores discovery when you ask questions that change the frame.
Framing
How you describe the problem, options, and trade-offs shapes what feels fair.
Framing shifts negotiations from positional haggling to joint problem-solving. Reframing total cost, risk, or timeline often unlocks deals that discounting cannot.
Concessions
What you give up — and whether each concession is conditional, timed, and reciprocated.
Unconditional concessions teach the counterpart to keep pushing. Swanx penalises naked discounts and rewards conditional trades tied to explicit asks.
Discovery
Questions that reveal interests, constraints, and priorities behind the stated position.
Discovery is the difference between reacting to demands and designing outcomes. Strong discovery uncovers the hidden variable that changes the entire negotiation.
Hidden variable
The unstated constraint or interest that, once found, changes the entire negotiation.
Every Swanx scenario contains a hidden variable — the real concern beneath the stated position. Finding it is the product's deepest skill. This is Swanx's owned term in negotiation training.
BREAKDOWN
A rupture in the negotiation — walkout, silence, or emotional escalation.
BREAKDOWN is not always failure. Recovery — reopening after a counterpart-triggered breakdown — is a scored skill in Swanx interpersonal and high-pressure scenarios.
Reopening
Returning to the table after a breakdown with credibility and a new frame.
Reopening requires emotional repair before substance. Swanx trains the sequence: acknowledge rupture, reset tone, then re-anchor on interests.
Walk-away point
The line beyond which you prefer no deal to a bad deal.
Knowing your walk-away point prevents desperation concessions. Swanx scenarios pressure-test whether you reveal it too early or hold it credibly.
Tactical empathy
Demonstrating understanding of the counterpart's perspective without agreeing with their position.
Tactical empathy lowers defensiveness and opens discovery. It is especially critical in interpersonal Swanx scenarios where tone matters as much as numbers.
Closing
Securing commitment — summarising terms, testing agreement, and preventing last-minute erosion.
Many negotiators win the middle and lose the close. Swanx scores closing when you lock terms explicitly instead of assuming agreement.