The Psychology of Negotiation: How to Find Elegant Trades

The Psychology of Negotiations: How to Make Elegant Trades by Dr. Daylian Cain of the Yale School of Management is a practical, story-driven course that teaches you how to create and claim significantly more value in almost any negotiation.

You will learn how to expand the pie before you divide it, spot “Yale Trees,” and understand what the person across the table really wants, even when they’re trying not to tell you. Whether you’re in sales trying to convey a value proposition or navigating through the dozens of informal negotiations you encounter during the week, this course will fundamentally change how you approach these conversations.

Across four modules, you will master proven frameworks: the 4 Things to Figure Out, the 3 types of issues in any deal, splitting the pie, menus of service levels, patterns of concessions, MESOs, contingent contracts, and post-settlement settlements. 

These ideas are simple; applying them in a pressured negotiation is not. 

To close that knowing-doing gap, this course lets you test your skills against interactive AI negotiation bots. These realistic exchanges will reveal where your approach may be falling short, so you can better identify which of the course’s lessons will benefit you the most.

No prior experience required. The course moves from foundational ideas to advanced and immediately usable tools. Prof. Cain teaches these concepts to everyone from teenagers to C-suite executives (and some people who are both).