How to say no without burning bridges

Two negotiation professors explain how to turn people down with kindness, and zero room for pushback.

You know the feeling we are talking about. Your friend calls to ask for your help moving on a Saturday when you were planning on doing nothing. Or your sister-in-law asks you to invest in her business, and you are afraid there is no way it will succeed. Even when the person asking for the favor isn’t someone central to your life, it is still painful to say no. Most of us don’t even like saying no to telemarketers. That’s why there are so many jobs in sales. Often, we end up making bad decisions to avoid the short-term discomfort of turning people down.