You want to negotiate the best deal for your client.  Negotiations in person are more than position taking, reasoning and compromise.  What’s important is not only what’s communicated, but how it’s communicated.  You want to ‘read’ the other attorney and party as best you can, to get the best agreement for your client.

There are well known body language messages.  Is the person crossing their arms, in a defensive posture?  Are their eyes scanning the room, seemingly bored and uninterested in what you are saying?  Reading your opponent’s body language, and using it to your advantage, is an art beyond the scope of any blog.  But one topic worth looking into is not just our body language, but how body language differs from men and women.

A column in the Washington Post discusses female body language in office and business situations and they’re also relevant to face to face negotiations.  It contains ten body language traps for women (though some apply to men as well):

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