Negotiation
Tactic

Pair Names in a Calendar Invite

Positive feelings from their name will transfer to your name.

Calendar invite that says "Nick and Dave"

Overview

When scheduling a meeting that requires negotiation, send a calendar with your name in close visual proximity with your counterpart's name.

In my work, I’ve argued that “gestalt grouping” is the mechanism behind empathy. We desire to help other people because our brain groups our identity with them — it feels like we are helping ourselves (see my video on The Origin of Human Empathy).

Grouping your names will trigger this effect.

If your counterpart sees your name next to their name, positive feelings from their name will transfer to your name.

It’s similar to classical conditioning. Pavlov conditioned his dogs by pairing an emotional stimulus (food) with a neutral stimulus (bell). Their name is the emotional stimulus. Your name is the neutral stimulus. Positive emotions from their name will transfer to your name (see Chapter 4 of my book The Tangled Mind for other examples).