Diana
Rogers
Sr Product Manager at Global Payments
"Handling Pushback in Meetings and Negotiations"
"Handling Pushback in Meetings and Negotiations"
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Session: Handling Pushback in Meetings and Negotiations
Imagine walking into a meeting as the only woman in the room, and an engineer opens with: “Wait, I thought this was a technical discussion.” Now what? You can’t ignore it. You can’t panic. And whatever you say next will quietly define your authority.In this talk, we’ll work through moments like this and other real-world pushback in meetings and negotiations. We’ll start with the basics borrowed from The Art of War: know yourself, know the other side. You’ll learn how to tell whether pushback is emotional or strategic, how to respond without escalating or over-explaining, and how to position yourself so people respect and listen to you long after the meeting ends. This is a practical session with real language you can use immediately.
Key Takeaways
- The first step in any difficult interaction is understanding your own goal and limits.
- The second step is reading the other side’s intent before responding.
- Calm, structured responses are more powerful than fast or emotional ones.
Bio
Diana Rogers is a Senior Product Manager in fintech with over seven years of experience leading high-stakes discussions across engineering, sales, legal, and leadership teams. An immigrant and non-native English speaker, she has spent her career navigating pushback, authority challenges, and negotiation dynamics in male-dominated technical environments. Diana combines real-world product leadership experience with practical negotiation frameworks to help women handle difficult conversations calmly, clearly, and without losing credibility.