Author Phil Marcus uses real-life scenarios and strategies for successful negotiations.  He says the idea is to think clearly, without anger or stress, when you're at the bargaining table.

"You have to be able to work with the mindsets of all kinds of different personalities.  And a lot of it, frankly, has to do with experience.  It's mostly due to different personalities on the other side, and to some extent, kind of timing.  People on the other side of the negotiation — I call them negotiation partners — they have different circumstances.  Somebody may have had a bad day, and that will put them in a bad mood and makes it difficult to negotiate." 

Marcus says successful negotiations require dealing with cross-generational and cross-personality situations objectively.

"And the idea is to get yourself into what I call Zen space, in which one is, to some extent, separated from one's own emotional response to a situation.  Put yourself in the place of somebody watching you and the rest of the audience, in turn watching a movie or a TV show or a play on stage."

Marcus is an attorney and long-time business owner, teacher and consultant in negotiation, finance and intellectual property.