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Say Less, Get More in BUSINESS
Whether you are leading a company, a team or yourself, the power of negotiation is all about communicating persuasively. Today’s workforce follows leaders who are able to persuade and inspire them to go along with their ideas based on understanding and trust. So, how can you make your voice stand out as a leader? Become more influential day-to-day, and start achieving the results you want? Expert communicator Fotini Iconomopoulos shares the principles of persuasion and negotiation, and shows audiences how to use them to become the kind of leader that people want to follow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Say Less, Get More in LIFE
Negotiations happen all around us. While the idea of negotiating stresses many people out, the reality is that negotiation is just a form of communication. Contrary to popular belief, effective negotiation isn’t about arguing; it’s a discussion aimed at reaching agreement. It’s a process of discovery that requires more listening than speaking. In this eye-opening keynote, communication expert Fotini Iconomopoulos will demonstrate how we are constantly negotiating with those around us in myriad ways, and it rarely looks like a pay-per-view main event. The more comfortable you can get with the idea of negotiation as a conversation, the more opportunities you will create for the kind of life you want.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Women & Negotiation
Negotiation is a skill that can bring significant value for everyone, yet women are far less likely to engage in the practice. With good reason. Studies and anecdotes galore tell us that women are often penalized for negotiating. In 2001, only 7% of women negotiated their first salary compared to 57% of men. Labeled aggressive instead of assertive or attracting the dreaded b-word, they fear the process for fear of retaliation. Are women terrible negotiators? No. In fact, as expert communicator and negotiator Fotini Iconomopoulos shares, the opposite is true. Women’s superior trust and empathy skills make them ideal negotiators. Often they just need to work on their confidence and employ some subtle communication strategies to get what they want — without that dreaded label. Listen to Fotini share her negotiation war stories and how she overcame gender and age discrimination to go on to be the expert that Fortune 500 executives seek out for their high stakes scenarios. You’ll leave with the motivation and confidence and the knowledge to tackle your next negotiation with ease.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
When was the last time you felt in control of a conversation, and what does control mean to you? The best communicators and negotiators recognize that control is gained from understanding. First, you need to understand what you want. Then you need to be open to what the person on the other side of you wants.
Expert Communicator and Negotiator Fotini Iconomopoulos, and Author of Say Less, Get More: Unconventional Negotiation Techniques to Get What You Want, helps audiences understand that being in control of situations that can increase your personal well being, fuel your professional growth and ultimately increase your wealth is attainable for everyone.
From her early years in a thriving family business to MBA studies in organizational behavior to a decade of owning and managing small businesses in the retail sector, Fotini refined her negotiation skills in the corporate world in the consumer-packaged goods industry before becoming a management consultant. She then created a successful negotiation advisory practice for another global firm before branching off on her own. Along the way, she continued to see that one of her greatest skills was helping people understand that taking small steps every day in negotiating myriad life situations ultimately translated into creating stronger business opportunities.
During her years working with large organizations like L’Oreal and negotiating with even larger companies like Walmart, Fotini was able to thrive because she applied great communication practices like listening, asking more questions, hitting pause before speaking and many other very human strategies to her interactions. Now Fotini shares her actionable, approachable and innovative strategies that show audiences that negotiation simply boils down to effective communication skills to confidently get what you want in business and in life.
When she’s not strategizing with clients, Fotini is speaking to global corporate audiences like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Bell, Walmart, Intuit, EY, CIBC, and many others about negotiation, communication, leadership, and conflict management. Fotini is an instructor in the MBA program at York University’s Schulich School of Business and has guest lectured at other leading universities. She is a frequent guest on CBC and CTV and has been featured in a number of publications, including Forbes and the Harvard Business Review. Her many accomplishments include being recognized with a NEW Impact Award for Inclusion from the Network of Executive Women, as well as a Forty Under 40 Award from the Greek America Foundation.
Fotini’s new book, Say Less, Get More: Unconventional Negotiation Techniques to Get What You Want, (Collins, 2021), was inspired by her passion to make the skills of negotiating not only more approachable and attainable for all people, but to also be seen as an exciting skill that will create more opportunities to live your best life. Say Less, Get More is the on ramp to new communication skills that will empower you to pursue the future of your dreams.
