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How To Tell When Someone Is Lying

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Advisor Perspectives
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Q4 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc

Lying
Schwerdhoefer / Pixabay

People lie all the time. They do it to get control. You can’t stop someone from lying, but you can improve your awareness so that you don’t get played.

I’ve been heavily lied to

I’m a highly trained telemarketer. There was a time (many years ago) when that was what I did for a living. Telemarketers are probably the #1 profession that gets lied to because it is way easier to get away with lying when someone can’t see your body language.

Examples:

  • He/she’s not in. (rarely true)
  • He/she may be in. Who shall I say is calling? (meaning: I have to ask my boss if you’re important enough)
  • They’re in a meeting. (Oh stop it, you Pinocchio!)
  • Leave me a number and they’ll call back. (never happens)

At first, telemarketing was a miserable job for me. I trusted those responses until the day I figured out that there was no way that 100% of the people were in a meeting all day long every time I called.

I studied the art of lying.

Once I did, my game improved immeasurably. I became one of the top performers where I worked.

You may not be doing any telemarketing, but as a financial advisor you’re still getting lied to. Here’s how to tell.

This usually means someone is lying

Here are the top signs there is some lying going on.

Signs of discomfort:

  • Pausing before a response
  • Throat clearing
  • Getting angry unnecessarily ("Look I don't know what to tell you")
  • Uncomfortable laughter

Signs they’re trying to buy time:

  • Starting the sentence with “Um, not sure, hard to say” or other non-essential transition phrases
  • Asking you to repeat the question
  • Asking questions about the question itself

Signs of manipulation:

  • Offering general responses (“We’ve got it covered.”)
  • Including too much information
  • Intentionally trying to confuse you
  • Accusing you of being ridiculous for asking the question
  • Changing the wording in a response

Read the full article here by Sara Grillo, Advisor Perspectives

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