Silence is a Great Tool!
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And so, negotiators knowing this, use silence as an effective negotiation tool in one of several ways.
First, it can used as a means of “active listening”. That is, to fully listen and absorb what the other party is saying. Often when another starts to speak, we tend to start thinking about our response rather than to just simply listen- and do nothing else- to what the other is saying. “Allowing a few moments of silence… before you respond will help you turn off your internal voice and listen more effectively.” (Id.) In simple terms, waiting a few seconds before responding will allow you to paraphrase, inquire and acknowledge what the other is saying, or in short, to actively listen. (Id.) By doing so, it will make the other person feel listened to, acknowledged, and heard, thereby building trust and rapport.
A second way is that it will help you to defuse anchors. “When your counterpart names an outrageous figure, your silence will far more effectively defuse the anchor than heaps of protesting would.” (Id.) In truth, this is true for any statement with which you disagree; the silence will speak volumes of how much you disagree with what was just said.
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