A brief interruption in the “10 Tips” series to pose a question to everybody whose is reading this. People feel compelled to lie during a negotiation. There are many forms of lying including omissions, concealing vital facts, exaggerations, innocent little white lies, complete fabrications, or whatever. This is not a judgement I won’t comment on whether it’s right or wrong, you have to decide that question for yourself. It happens. Here’s the question:
Can you tell when someone’s lying to you? (leave a comment)
If you can, how do you know? and what do you do with this information?
(OK I just lied to you, that was three questions)
It is imperative in all styles of negotiation to be able to identify when people are lying. In Hard Bargaining it will allow you to quickly identify someone’s breakpoint, in Win Win Negotiations it will help you manage the climate, identify true priorities and uncover flexibility. Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. David Matsumoto are 2 of the worlds foremost authorities in human emotion recognition. They are pioneers in the field. I am an avid follower and disciple of their work.
Below is a brief example of the application of micro expression analysis to detect a lie or concealed emotion. Micro expressions are extremely reliable, however very difficult to become proficient at using. I use proprietary software, designed exclusively for The Edge Negotiation Group by Dr. Matsumoto to train my clients. I also utilize 4 other complimentary techniques when training people to spot the hot-spots.
- Illustrators & manipulators
- Verbal cues and slips
- Emblems and emblematic slips
- Profiling
Below Dr. Paul Ekman demonstrates using testimony from the OJ trial.