[ISL]

I've had some success with, "Okay, well what can we talk about without the NDA?"

NDAs are hard; there are good reasons for them, but they are too-easily proffered and too-often signed.

Where possible, they are far more humane if they have a reasonable end-date.

At the end of the day, these agreements (and non-competes/non-poaching clauses), among well-intentioned people, can boil down to the spirit of Stuart Freedman's request [1] that Gerry Garvey memorialize an oath: "I swear that I will not screw you unnecessarily."

These agreements, however, are a bulwark against the ill-intentioned and malevolent.

[1] https://youtu.be/sFWi4tvQcCY?t=892

[exabrial]

That's the exact spirit. "What are you willing to discuss without the NDA?" is one I'll stick in the toolbox.