The article substantiates the need to distinguish between business conversations and negotiations as forms of professional rhetoric. This necessity requires clarification of the specifics of each form. Conversations are used in the management system, and this term refers to a large group of different genres. It is necessary to distinguish between conversations, in which the task of influencing the addressee prevails, and conversations with the purpose of obtaining information. The first type correlates with monological genres, any of which in the conditions of interpersonal communication can take the form of a conversation. The second type serves to realize the function of decision-making. Negotiations are used in the marketing system and can be divided into marketing ones proper, they are conducted according to a known template, and strategic ones.
