Talking too much or talking off the cuff are both the kiss of
death for successful business negotiations. We have emphasized
here on Negotiation Space before that listening is an essential
skill and tactic during any business negotiation. Simply put,
when you are too busy talking, you won’t be able to listen
effectively.  We came across the article “4 Words That Will Make
You A Better Negotiator” on These are not words that you say to
others—they are words that you say to yourself BEFORE you start
speaking to others. In essence, they are: shut up and listen.
Why would shutting up have such a deep impact? Author Dave Logan
says the following:  it interrupts something called an “amygdala
loop,” in which one person loses their cool and goes into
flight-or-fight mode.  Being linguistic creatures, we don’t
throw things (hopefully), instead, we lob insults and arguments,
stop listening, stop making sense of things, and are thoroughly
convinced that we are right and the other is wrong.   This
behavior triggers the