The Naked Negotiator

Have you ever noticed that smart negotiators use simple words? They don’t try to create confusion and ambiguity with jargon and bull. George Orwell in Animal Farm wrote:

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttle fish squirting out ink.”

The same advice applies to contracts. Mark Twain advised:

“I notice that you use plain simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English — it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.”

Popularity: 21% [?]

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit a third time - a tremendous whack.”

- Winston Churchill

In her book, POP!, Stand Out in Any Crowd, author Sam Horn tells us that one of the most dramatic examples of a crafted soundbite was one used by the late Johnny Cochran, one of the defense lawyers for O.J. Simpson.

Can you remember the trial?

It went on for months. The jury heard testimony from dozens of experts and witnesses. But the dramatic moment came when O.J. Simpson was asked to try on a glove arguably worn by Nicole Simpson’s murderer.

Many people believe O.J. Simpson exaggerated the difficulty of putting on the glove, but Johnny Cochran amplified the doubt over O.J. Simpson’s guilt with this pile driving soundbite.

“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Many legal analysts believe that this - Cochran’s summation encapsulated by this one soundbite - won the case. The phrase was doubly impactful because it recalled a visual demonstration.

The best PowerPoint presenters conclude with a pithy statement that recalls an earlier slide that had high visual impact.

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Do you remember where you were when JFK was assassinated?

Chances are, your memory will mislead you. However that won’t stop you defending your belief regardless of contrary evidence.

How do we know this?

Psychologist Ulric Neisser asked 106 students to write down exactly where they were the day after 1986 challenger shuttle explosion. When he interviewed them just two and a half year later 25% gave remarkably different accounts.

In his new book, On Being Certain (St Martins, 2008), Neuro Scientist Robert Burton explains “The feeling of knowing” - being certain of a fact despite having no (or even contrary) evidence.

One of the startling implications of Burton’s arguments is that we ultimately cannot trust ourselves or others when we claim something is true.

Ronald Reagan had it right when it came to trusting the Russians. For Reagan it wasn’t about trust, it was about verification.

Popularity: 37% [?]