Negotiation - Silence as a Tool

     I watched Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. While I won't say this movie is high art, it does provide some good laughs and some painful laughs.

     Aside from the humor, there is one particular scene which demonstrates the power of silence in a negotiation.

     At approximately, 1 hour and 5 minutes into the movie, the character Conner attempts to reconcile with his ex-band mate Lawrence. Lawrence is disgruntled with Conner because Conner won a Poppy award and claimed that he wrote the Catchphrase verse. Conner initially starts by saying that Lawrence can borrow the Poppy award to take some photos with it.  And, when met with Lawrence's silence, Conner slowly begins to admit the truth behind the Catchphrase verse.

      While negotiations can be described as finding a win-win situation that leads to a fair compromise, don't forget that not responding can be an effective negotiation tool.

- Henry Park