Navigating Emotion in Negotiation & Mediation
Presented by Robert A. Creo, Esq.

Emotions Matter
Emotional intelligence, aka EQ, is a recent concept that has gained traction as a highly prized trait of successful professionals.  No conflict is devoid of emotion.  Interpersonal conflicts are often about concepts of right, wrong, fairness, betrayal, and other non-economic drivers.  Business-to-business economic claims are infused with emotional overtones.  Commercial organizations are run by people who are concerned more than about just the bottom line or making a practical decision.

Lawyers and mediators are not immune to the emotional currents of the dispute.  How does this play out in disputes where one party is an individual while the other side is a corporate entity?  Who displays, or should display, emotions?  Is there an “emotional climate” of a case?  How does this play out in negotiations, including those conducted by a third-party mediator?   Should the mediator discourage or encourage emotions, and what stages of the process?  Should the mediator show emotions?  How does the emotional response of the impact expectations of impartiality?

The workshop explores the most effective tools for negotiators and mediators to embrace the voices of both negative and positive human emotion to utilize it to empower disputants to exercise self-determination to obtain mutually beneficial resolutions.

Workshop Format
Either a half or full day with interactive lecture interspersed with brief fishbowl demonstrations.

Workshop Topics and Skill Building

• Neuroscience; Hardwiring; Universal
• Six Basic Universal Human Emotions
• Biology of Emotional Responses
• Displays of Emotion: Facial, Sounds, Gestures
• Cultural & Language Emotional Expression
• Power of Emotion
• Emotional Date Bases & Triggers—Cultural, Group, Individual
• Conflict, Social Threats, Stress
• Norm Violations
• Automatic & Reflective Appraising
• Emotion—Moods; Imagination; Memory
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
• Priming; Valence
• Affect Labeling
• Resiliency; Agility; Creativity; Humor
• Processing Trauma & Negative Emotion
• Storytelling & Self-distancing Methods

Course Deliverables

• Enhance understanding of role of emotions in holistic decision making
• Nuts & Bolts of emotions
• Enhance agility as negotiator or mediator
• Detailed handouts on dealing with emotion