Review and Summary of “How to Spot a Liar Anywhere” by Jessie Knadler

We all lie sometimes, whether we are telling a tale to keep a secret, or just to save our hide.  “A recent study conducted at the University of Virginia found that people told untruths in a startling 1 out of 4 conversations” (Knadler 170).  With statistics like that it is possible to conclude that we are being lied too, and the only defense mechanism that we have is to be aware of getting snowballed.
The first strategy that is suggested is to watch the liar’s body language, because they may be clicking a pen at a bionic rote, picking at imaginary sweater lint, or gradually backing towards an exit—broadcasting their deceitfulness (170).  Their anxiety causes them to behave in this way, because of the fear of being caught and being deceitful.  However, not everyone exhibits these signs when pulling the wool over your eyes, and you have to pay attention to nonverbal cues while noting if their behavior changes from what is normal for that individual (171). 

The second strategy involves verbal cues, which involves tone and word choice in a conversation.  Many times perjurers are to busy selling you their tale they neglect thinking about the little things such as sentence structure, verb tense, and chronology.  They also tend to abstract from the details, and Knadler explains that “most people don’t think to include irrelevant trivia when selling an artificial explanation” (172). 

The final strategy involves the professionals, with their ever so smooth moves—salesmen, lawyers, Presidents.  Salesmen like to get cozy, and call you by your first name like you have known them for ages.  “How on earth could you doubt your best friend?” (Knadler 172).  Another study suggests, that it is much easier to victimize people when the liar dresses like the victim.  They  also imitate your language, say they have the same hobbies as you, ape your body gestures just to get close enough to pull a fast one on you.