Let the impatient reveal their hand while patience keeps yours protected.

Impatience talks. It makes offers, sets ultimatums, and explains its own reasoning, all of which reveals what it needs and how quickly it needs it. Simply waiting is often enough to see the whole shape of someone’s position, because urgency cannot help disclosing itself. Your own patience keeps you unreadable at the same time.

In any negotiation, resist making the first offer or the first concession. Ask what happens if nothing is decided this week. The one who can wait longest usually sets the terms without ever saying so.