The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
Although there is no guaranteed method of detecting
lies, there are certain things that you can do to increase
your chances of spotting a liar:
• To detect a lie successfully you need to set your criteria
so that they're neither too high nor too low. That way
you'll avoid coming to the conclusion that nobody ever
tells a lie, or that everybody lies all the time.
• Where possible, the actions that someone performs while
they are supposedly lying should be compared with how
they behave when they are telling the truth.
• To be a good lie detector you should also concentrate on
behaviour that falls outside conscious control or that
people are likely to ignore.
• Given the opportunity, focus your attention on what
people say and how they say it, rather than on what they
do.
• It's important to work out whether the lie is likely to be
spontaneous or rehearsed, and whether it's a high-stakes
or a low-stakes lie. When the stakes are low or the lie has
been rehearsed, the task of detecting the lie is much
more difficult.
• To spot a lie you should always focus on a broad range
of behavioural and speech clues. If you think you can
spot a liar on the basis of a single clue, you're deceiving
yourself.
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