The Negotiation Book: Your Definitive Guide To Successful Negotiating

6.8. VISIBLE EMOTION

Visible emotion is also used tactically in negotiation. One such tactic known as the 'Professional Flinch' (page 139, Chapter 5), which I have covered in more detail in Chapter 8, involves one party making their opening proposal and the other reacting with an exaggerated emotional reaction, implying that the offer is ridiculous. The emotion orchestrated is designed to provide a far more powerful form of rejection than a simple 'no'. As a negotiator you need to read the situation and be confident of your actions. There is no place for uncontrolled emotion in negotiation. As a Complete Skilled Negotiator, you need to be in control of your thinking, reactions, what you say and what you decide not to say.

Another way of deliberately controlling visible emotions is when negotiators make power statements during the opening exchanges of a discussion as part of anchoring the aspirations of the other party. As they do so, they are consciously waiting for the reactions to gauge how far they might push a particular issue. For example: 'We're pleased we've been able to get together to discuss some of the issues around our compensation claim today', or 'Clearly you recognise that this is most unusual and that any settlement is likely to take months if not years to conclude given the complexity of the issue.' The anchor statement may have no substance at all. The person making the statement is watching and listening for the emotional signals that suggest rejection or acceptance ...