Title rephrased from Settle It Now’s "Negotiating Influence: How to Help Your Opponents Change Their Minds," where she wrote:

I have alot more to say about this but for the moment am simply linking you to an article at Cognitive daily demonstrating the known fact that you are far more likely to persuade another if you are making eye contact with him.  

And still opposing parties resist sitting in the same room with one another when attempting to settle litigation!

There is a considerable body of research showing that eye contact is a key component of social interaction. Not only are people more aroused when they are looked at directly, but if you consistently look at the person you speak to, you will have much more social influence over that person than you would if you averted your gaze.

For full article, click here.

Emphasis on the "same room" comment mine. Whether eye-to-eye contact is a good thing for you depends on the situation. Why, for example, would I want opposing counsel staring down my injured, situationally-weakened client with no negotiation skills? The other side will exert social influence over them! That won’t do me or the client any good.

Indeed, sometimes I don’t want to discuss the case. Sometimes either we’re at the end of the road or you’re not even on our road, and I’m not going to humor you and your insufficient offers and your attempt to use social influence on me. Indeed, many of my best offers come after cancelling settlement conferences before they happen

Just something to keep in mind. Every trick you know is a trick that can be played on you and/or your client.