Listening to the other party in a mediation or negotiation is key to resolving the issues between you. Whatever your assumptions, biases or preconceptions may be, you need to push them aside and focus on what the other party is saying. You need to understand them, what their goals are and why.

By getting a good handle on their emotions you have a better chance at understanding them. Not only are the words used by the other party telling you their emotions, but the tools of language used will also help, according to research discussed in Science Daily.

Observing How Metaphors Are Used

Observing whether and how metaphors are used can help you become more aware of another person’s emotional or mental states, reports Andrea Bowes and Albert Katz of the University of Ontario in Canada in an article in the journal Memory & Cognition. Researchers established that people could better infer others’ mental and emotional states after reading metaphors, whether they were part of passages or in isolation.

A metaphor is a phrase that states something is something else (Life is a box of chocolates.) as opposed to a simile which states something is like something else (Life is like a box of chocolates). It’s a common part of conversations as we attempt to better explain to others how we view things.

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