6. Mediation Essentials — Listening Can Pay Big Dividends

As you probably surmised, this right-to-tell-your-side-of-the-story philosophy assumes that someone will be listening. If you are wise, that someone will be you. And, although listening is something that most of us human beings don’t do very well, in mediation you can often be well paid for listening. It is amazing how feeling that one has been heard can soften a party’s bitter determination to take a case all the way to a trial. This softening of your opponent can save you money. People who are less bitter or edgy are usually more inclined to settle without making their opponents pay in blood.

So, if your lawyer is urging that you go to the mediation and just listen without saying anything, there may be good reasons for doing so. This idea of listening might even be a useful concept for life outside of mediation.

Robin M. Green, Divorce: When It’s the Only Answer (The Ordinary Mortals Guide, Inc., 2005), Chapter 14, p. 210.