The Dark Art of Negotiation

My experience may be atypical, but most of the serious negotiations I've been involved in have taken place on paper/email and over days/weeks, not a single face-off. Human psychology still factors into it, certainly, but not in the raw way this article describes.

It's sort of like the party game Werewolf (a.k.a. Mafia, etc.) - when played in person, it typically revolves around gestures, eye contact, and other physical factors; when played on a forum/over email, it's more about the psychology and strategy of who said what.

Or (and this is admittedly an area that I have less first-hand experience in), poker - past a certain point, the really good poker players tend not to give the game away based on physical tells, though the psychology and emotion is still a big contributor to what happens.

Sort of what kgrin said: Poker is an invaluable skill to possess. If you learn to play the PEOPLE instead of the GAME, everything changes.

It's sort of like switching the lightbulb on, especially when you're dealing people of low experience levels (in poker or any other game/negotiation).