Your real number
State the cost from your homework, and the one alternative you could genuinely offer. Your teacher will remember both — they are what the rest of the lesson uses.
Hold, or offer?
Two legitimate responses to a cost objection
Hold the line, when it is not negotiable: "I understand the concern, but the wall height is set by the slope, not by choice — reducing it would mean the wall does not do its job. What I can do is phase the cost, not the design."
Offer an alternative, when there genuinely is one: "There is a real alternative here — a lower-grade paver on the lower terrace only, where it is seen less. That would bring the number down without touching the design intent up top."
Both are acceptable answers to "can we cut this cost?" The failure is not choosing the wrong one — it is not knowing, before you speak, which situation you are in.
Deciding which one you are in takes about two seconds, and most designers skip it. The question is simple: does the cost come from something the code or the site requires, or from a choice you made that could have gone another way? The first gets held. The second gets negotiated.
Holding without sounding closed
Holding the line, diplomatically
Firm and open at the same time. Listen and repeat.
"I understand the concern, but" is not the same as "I hear you, however" — the second sounds like a formula, and clients notice formulas. The first names the specific concern in your next breath, which is what makes it sound genuine rather than procedural.
Hold or offer?
For each situation, choose the better move — hold the line, or offer an alternative.
1. The wall height is fixed by the slope. The client asks for a shorter, cheaper wall.
2. The paver grade on the lower terrace was a design preference, not a requirement. The client wants to cut cost.
3. Which response would sound most like a formula rather than a genuine answer?
4. What is the two-second question that decides which response to give?
Defend the cost
Live, from your own project, no script.
Task card
Mr. Alvarez wants five costs on your project reviewed, back to back
For each, decide hold or offer, and respond live. No preparation between them.
- At least two should genuinely be held. At least two should genuinely be offered an alternative.
- Acknowledge before you do either.
- One of the five should surprise you — a cost you had not expected to be asked about.
Did you decide before you spoke?
Was there a moment where you started answering before deciding hold-or-offer, and had to change direction mid-sentence? That is normal under pressure — but naming it means you can catch it earlier next time.
Before the next lesson
Homework. Note every sentence from the task where your intonation or your conditional form felt wrong in your own ears. Next lesson works on exactly those.