My ex and I just went to mediation over modifying child support. It was much more casual than a hearing in front of a judge. I'm sure every mediator is different, but our spoke alot to diffuse some tension and he let us talk, yell, whatever.

Just like going to a regular hearing, know ahead of time what you want, have goals. I wasn't going to agree to something I didn't want because he was there staring me in the eye. Have it in writing. I also took notes on everything that was said during the meeting. If I felt bombarded with information and lost track of what was said, then I could refer to my notes. I also think it made my ex husband super nervous that I was writing it all down, he probably had no idea what I was doing that for. It also kept me focused. I never had a lawyer, not even during our divorce, so writing/note taking really helped with my nerves too. He had a lawyer during the divorce, but not for this mediation, so it was much better, seemed more fair. We had 3 hours for our mediation, we used up the whole time, but it went fast.

Im not sure what your mediation was for, but Im a haggler, and I haggled at this mediation just like if I was at a yard sale, or buying something big like a car or furniture. I thew out a figure that seemed off the charts absurd for him to pay. He was so mad. Later when the figure that I knew was realistic came into the picture, he thought he was getting a better deal and not giving me what I wanted. In the end I got what I wanted. I also had alot of points to bring up to support my case, or reasoning for why he should pay a certain amount, for example, he never sees the kids, so he should pay top dollar for them to be raised. The mediator helped my point by stating that if he didn't have any interest in seeing the kids, he should be willing to ante up for someone else to raise them.

Hope your mediation goes well.