Misinformed, manipulated and mislead…we’ve all felt deceived at one time or another. But now more than ever, we’re asking ourselves: Who can we trust? What is real? In these pages, we’ve tapped top body-language experts, forensic linguists, hostage negotiators, psychologists and historians to help you instantly recognize the telltale signs of deception—not only to protect yourself against it but to also discern the truth, once and for all.
QUESTIONS&ANSWERS IS SEEING REALLY BELIEVING?
25 The secret codes of manipulation • Decide conflicts in your favor Influence others Convince people in seconds
5 MASTERS OF SUPER PERSUASION AND THEIR TRICKS
THE 11 MOST POWERFUL CODES OF MANIPULATION • They are unassuming little words—yet they have an enormous impact. If you use the power of speech skillfully, you can persuade others, steer their thoughts, and decide discussions in your favor…
THE DICTIONARY OF SUPER PERSUASION • People use all kinds of strategies to convince others of their opinion. Some methods may be morally reprehensible, but those who wish to disrupt the dominance of another should at least be familiar with them. Forewarned is forearmed.
THE BODY LANGUAGE CODE USED BY FBI PROFILERS • Joe Navarro worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 25 years. His job was to catch spies. In a documentary for WIRED, Navarro explains how body language reflects our thoughts and feelings and how it can be deciphered.
MAKE YOURSELF HARD TO READ
HOW TO CATCH A SPY
HOW BODY LANGUAGE TURNS YOUR FACE INTO A TRAITOR • The average person touches his or her face about 40 times per hour. Coincidence? Not according to face-reading expert Eric Standop. Every gesture has a hidden meaning—to decode it, we need only take a closer look…
CAN MY VOICE GIVE ME AWAY? • Researchers reveal the secret codes of speech
SMARTER IN 60 SECONDS
THE SECRET POWER OF WORDS • Our words may be our most powerful tools—and when need be, they can be our best weapons as well. Yet our choice of words and manner of speech can also work against us by exposing us for who we really are…
A DICTIONARY of Manipulation • Often a single word can completely change a sentence. A word that points the listener in the right or wrong direction. A word that indicates the speaker is lying. Making clever use of the power of words can provide decisive advantages in both professional and everyday life…
Forensic Linguistics: + CAN A WORD GIVE ME AWAY? • Every section of text is a crime scene, every word an item of evidence. The investigators in such cases are forensic linguists—language profilers who analyze messages and documents to track down a perpetrator. This skill was instrumental in the hunt for the Unabomber. Here, the story of how a specialized discipline got its start…
WHAT ARE YOU REALLY CAPABLE OF? • According to some studies, any person is potentially a killer. The vast majority of us even regularly contemplate murder. In the search for moral boundaries, researchers in recent years have instead encountered a bottomless pit, and experiments have revealed that evil lurks in the heart of almost everyone…
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A SOCIOPATH • Be forewarned: Whenever you engage with a person, you may be dealing with a sociopath—statistically speaking, it’s not even altogether that unlikely. Psychologist Beate Handler has developed a checklist that will help to unmask such individuals. Here she explains what makes a sociopath tick—and the best ways to deal with one…
PSYCHOPATHS OF WORLD HISTORY • How a BRAIN ANOMALY can turn powerful people into monsters
THE BIGGEST TRAITORS OF WORLD HISTORY • They have been branded enemies, renegades, or cowards. But betrayal is always a matter of perspective—and there is usually more than one way of telling the...