Virtual event
Effective Negotiation Skills for Public Service
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
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Speakers
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Resources
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Event Description
Good negotiators are game-changers in government. Whether securing funding, navigating political dynamics or driving cross-sector collaboration, strong negotiation skills help overcome political, organisational and operational barriers.
But these negotiations are unique. As a public servant, negotiating involves balancing competing interests, working within bureaucratic constraints, and ensuring outcomes serve the public good. Success requires a blend of hard and soft skills: strategic thinking, data analysis, and policy knowledge, combined with emotional intelligence, communication, and relationship-building. It’s no surprise that those who can broker agreements and navigate complexity are in high demand.
This event will provide practical strategies for building trust, creating value, and achieving better outcomes in public service negotiations. Learn from experienced professionals who have successfully led complex negotiations and gain insights to strengthen your approach.
This event will take place on Zoom. Joining instructions will be displayed once you register. The event will be recorded and the recording will be sent to all registrants. It may also be made available on Apolitical's platform for other members of our community to enjoy.
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Speakers
Stefan Szepesi
Founder of Negotiation & Public Service, Former Advisor to the UN, European Commission, World Bank
The Netherlands
Stefan Szepesi, is the founder of Negotiation & Public Service and director at the Dutch firm WesselinkVanZijst, experts in mutual gains negotiation. His practitioner experience “at the table” includes international trade talks for the EU and negotiations on the Middle East Peace Process for the EU and the UN (2006-2012). In the Netherlands and beyond, he is involved in advising various branches of government on designing multiparty negotiation processes following the method of Strategic Stakeholder Engagement (SSE). Stefan has trained and advised hundreds of diplomats, civil servants, social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders from a variety of backgrounds on negotiation. He is the author of case studies and negotiation simulations and as a member of Speaker's Academy speaks on negotiation and cooperation challenges in international and domestic public policy. Educated as an economist (MSc, Maastricht University) and public policy professional (MPP, Princeton University), Stefan followed his own negotiation master classes at the Harvard Negotiation Institute.
