When preparing and developing a negotiation plan and strategy, designing a constituent and media outreach strategy is vital to the success of the negotiation. Outreach strategies ensure that a delegation’s message is clear for each audience and that the team engages in consistent public commentary.

In this episode, Dr. Paul R. Williams and Nicole Carle outline the core elements of designing an effective and efficient outreach strategy for constituencies and media as part of a peace negotiation process.

The purpose of a negotiation is to reach an agreement between two or multiple parties on terms that all of these parties are willing to agree upon, but also are willing to uphold. If the parties to a negotiation do not trust each other-- which is often the case-- or do not trust the process, they're going to be even much more likely to either not participate in the negotiations, or, to not uphold the terms of the negotiated agreement that they have all agreed upon.

In this episode hosted by Katie Hetherington, Dr. Paul R. Williams and Prof. Milena Sterio overview the key aspects of preparing for and establishing trust in advance of a peace negotiation.

Parties to negotiations often benefit from establishing clear rules and procedures outlining how negotiations will proceed. Clear negotiating rules and procedural guidelines help negotiators by promoting good faith efforts among delegations to negotiate fairly and by establishing reciprocal codes of conduct for parties to observe during negotiations. Moreover, specific rules and procedures for negotiation proceedings can help clarify the purpose of the negotiations, control the scope and pace of negotiations, and regulate the actions of the parties involved.

In this episode, Dr. Paul R. Williams and Nicole Carle outline a practical approach to establishing rules and procedures and effectively using those rules and procedures to facilitate successful negotiations.