Negotiation Ninja
Anchor your number, trade concessions, and close the deal — firmly, politely, out loud.
Never apologize for your number — anchor it: mi expectativa se sitúa en torno a los ciento veinte mil, backed by market data, not perdón, sé que es mucho. Make every offer conditional with the past subjunctive — si accedieran a mejorar el bono anual, estaría dispuesto a flexibilizar la fecha — because the si accedieran… estaría pattern trades value instead of surrendering it. Soften firm asks with quisiera or me gustaría rather than a blunt quiero, and close with commitment verbs: me comprometo a, quedamos en que.
Below: the phrases that anchor, trade and close, what dealmakers actually say from Mexico City to Buenos Aires, the mistakes that cost you money — and a live negotiation to rehearse out loud before the real one.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| my number is around 120 | mi expectativa anda por los ciento veinte | mi número está en torno a los ciento veinte mil |
| raise the bonus and I'm in | le entro si me suben el bono | si me mejorás el bono, yo te muevo la fecha |
| we've hit a deadlock | aquí nos atoramos | estamos trabados |
| it's a deal | trato hecho | quedamos en eso |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Negotiation Ninja pack, the final conversation is the last round of a senior compensation negotiation — and Isabella plays the Chief People Officer: cool, data-driven, friendly on the surface but ruthless on margin, and she pauses for several long seconds before responding to any number, as if doing mental math. There's a printed term sheet on the table in a glass-walled meeting room, both sides are expected to leave with a written agreement, and mid-meeting she reveals a hard ceiling on base salary. You have to repackage the ask — equity, bonus, vacation — without retreating. Out loud. And she punishes vagueness:
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Negotiation Ninja is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Anchor with data, not apologies: Tomando en cuenta mi trayectoria y el valor de mercado, mi expectativa se sitúa en torno a los ciento veinte mil. If the figure raises eyebrows, hold your ground: entiendo que la cifra pueda sorprenderles, pero responde a datos salariales verificables del sector.
Quiero sounds like a demand; quisiera, me gustaría and desearía make the same firm request sound professional. Use the softened forms for asks — and save plain statements for your data.
Pair the past subjunctive with the conditional: si accedieran a mejorar el bono anual, estaría dispuesto a flexibilizar la fecha de incorporación. Other joints that carry the trade: siempre y cuando and con tal de — every concession comes with a condition attached.
Name it and reframe: parece que hemos llegado a un punto muerto; quizá convenga pausar y reenfocar. Then widen the frame — quizá estamos enfocándonos demasiado en la cifra y perdiendo de vista otras variables valiosas — and probe what limits the other side's margin.
Recap before you shake hands: recapitulemos los términos acordados para evitar malentendidos posteriores, then make the commitments verifiable — quedamos en que recibiré la oferta formal por escrito antes del viernes próximo. Informally, a deal is sealed with trato hecho.
