Speaking

If your company or group needs a great negotiation speaker to impart the real skills needed for negotiating better, I can deliver the right speech or workshop crafted to your audience. Participants will learn how to step out of their comfort zone. They will become engaged and excited about learning new strategies. Most importantly, I will give participants tools that will allow them to start improving their skills as soon as the presentation is over.

As a certified mediator and instructor of negotiation classes, I truly understand both the art of negotiations and how to teach others to be successful negotiators. Read more about my background.

Learn more about my speaking engagements and what they cost by scheduling a brief chat.

Speaking at a conference for a company retreat

Negotiation Skills Presentation/Workshop Topics

Conflict: Resolution Without Escalation

Conflict is inevitable in every workplace—but escalation is not. In this keynote, mediator and negotiation strategist Alice Shikina explores why workplace conflict so often spirals into defensiveness, mistrust, and breakdowns in communication, even among well-intentioned professionals. Drawing from mediation, neuroscience, psychology, and real-world conflict resolution, this presentation teaches leaders and teams how to lower defensiveness, rebuild trust, and navigate difficult conversations without inflaming tensions. Participants will learn how curiosity, emotional regulation, and strategic communication can transform conflict from a destructive force into an opportunity for deeper understanding, stronger collaboration, and more effective influence.

Key Takeaways

Understand why conflict escalates and how emotional threat impacts decision-making and communication.
Learn how to de-escalate difficult conversations without sacrificing accountability or clarity.
Discover how curiosity and active listening reduce defensiveness and rebuild trust.
Recognize the hidden emotional dynamics driving workplace conflict and resistance.
Gain practical tools for navigating disagreement while preserving relationships and influence.

Perception: The Hidden Force Shaping Communication, Conflict, and Influence

Every conversation is filtered through perception. We do not experience the world objectively—we interpret it through our personal histories, fears, assumptions, identities, and emotional states. In this thought-provoking keynote, Alice Shikina explores how perception quietly shapes workplace dynamics, conflict, leadership, negotiation, and human connection. Through compelling stories, mediation insights, and psychological frameworks, audiences will discover how misunderstandings often emerge not from bad intentions, but from competing perceptions of reality. By learning to recognize and challenge their own assumptions, leaders and teams can communicate more effectively, reduce unnecessary conflict, and dramatically increase their ability to influence others.

Key Takeaways

Understand how perception shapes communication, conflict, and workplace relationships.
Learn why people can experience the same interaction in completely different ways.
Recognize how assumptions and emotional narratives distort understanding and decision-making.
Develop strategies to uncover hidden misunderstandings before they escalate into conflict.
Discover how shifting perception creates stronger leadership, collaboration, and influence.