Train your brain to win the ask: A mindful approach to negotiation

As communicators plan for 2026, securing budget, headcount or other resources takes business acumen and the confidence to negotiate. But in the sprint to win over leaders and internal stakeholders, it’s easy to forget that you are your own most important stakeholder.

Veleisa Patton Burrell, director of communications and PR at AT&T and mindfulness facilitator with her personal firm Narrative Evolution, says the best negotiators begin by looking inward. She takes a neuroscience-backed approach to mindfulness to help communicators build clarity, confidence and resilience before they ever enter the room.

In her new Ragan Training course, “The Neuroscience of Negotiation,” Burrell teaches comms leaders how brain science can strengthen their ask—and how mindfulness techniques can sharpen your edge without a hint of  new-age, “woo-woo” fluff.

We caught up with Burrell to explore why training your brain and understanding your neural triggers may be this wisest first step to take before you begin making asks and planning for next year.

Why do you teach neuroscience and brain science as a means to unpack the best practices of negotiation?

Veleisa Patton Burrell, Director of Communications and PR, AT&T

Burrell: As communicators, we can be very practical-minded, even though we often work with stakeholders who bring emotions to the table. We break it down to the “why.” For me, mindfulness centered around neuroscience is rooted in something concrete—how your brain works is studied science, not “woo-woo.”

Taking three deep breaths feels like a re-grounding, and that makes it practical. If the suggestion is journaling or visualization, I want to know why. Neuroscience provides that practicality for communicators who might otherwise dismiss mindfulness as too abstract.

In the first section of your course you talk about the fight, flight or freeze response. That made me think about crisis or scenario planning—going through an action in advance so you don’t choke when it matters. Almost like scenario planning within yourself to become an effective negotiator.

Burrell: Absolutely. The better you understand your own inherent responses to stressful situations, like the bodily reactions and habits, the better you can prepare. I tend to say more than I need to when overwhelmed. Early in my business, I was told, “State your pricing and stop talking.” We try to fill silence to avoid discomfort.

Practicing mindfulness helps you recognize these impulses and choose differently. In a safe space, you can rehearse alternative responses—whether that’s resisting the urge to overtalk, shut down, or walk away—so that in a real negotiation, you’re prepared.

As we transition into 2026 and budget season, what do you want learners to take away from your course? How can they apply these concepts in practice to their negotiations, whether for budget, headcount, autonomy, or something else?

Burrell: I hope this training feels like permission to give yourself time. We work in high-pressure situations, but it’s PR, not ER. This [course] is permission to prepare yourself in a different way than just using the best note-taking app or being in 17 different meetings. Understanding concepts like fight, flight or freeze as a human, elemental response helps remove shame.

Then, you can choose differently. And you can extend that practice to others: starting meetings with three deep breaths, for example, to create calm before diving into planning.

It’s such a contrary take to what many communicators have been told they need to do, and how they need to act, to reach leadership positions. Your course teaches that negotiation is a tangible leadership skill, but one we can only fully realize if we do the work on ourselves first.

Burrell: Exactly. You’re not just negotiating for business needs—you’re negotiating for yourself. That includes navigating new workplace cultures, return-to-office changes, downsizing, and shifting teams. Ultimately, you’re negotiating for the definition of your professional self.

Take Burrell’s course, and a slew of other leadership and business acumen courses exclusively on Ragan Training. Sign up for your free trial today.