Revolutions: Week 10 Period 5

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Aly waited for the students to all come in before going to close the door and sit on her desk.  "To those of you I had in my class last semester, I want to apologise.  This is a bit of a redux of a few topics that we covered that are just as important to a revolutionary as to a spy.  The currency of both is information.  And to get information, you have to be able to get people to trust you and possibly even mislead them to convince them to spill the beans."  She grinned.  "We're going to go through these pretty quickly in this class session, but I don't want anyone to think that makes them less important.  If you still have questions after class, come find me in my office or save them and ask next class session."

She flipped the whiteboard around to reveal a list written on it.

11 Ways to Start Off on the Right Foot, or a Guide to Flirting.
1. Remain Still and Composed
2. Smile genuinely
3. Maintain as much eye contact as you can tolerate
4. Employ the same body language you would use with an old friend
5. Your opening statement is crucial
6. Assess then focus on the other person's interests
7. Mirror body language and echo speech patterns
8. Plan in advance what you're going to say about yourself
9. Be prepared for likely topics
10. Maintain unshakable confidence no matter what
11. Work the silences

Returning her attention and gaze to the class, she gestured to the board. "Everyone likes an easy tip sheet, right? Here you are then, eleven ways you can start to build trust and establish rapport with a new contact." She winked. "Or a new interest. In all honesty, you can look at this type of conversation as flirting without sexual intent. What is flirting other than initiating contact and expressing interest in another person? You want to appear interesting, sincere, confident enough for the other person to think you're worth continuing the conversation with."

She looked back at the board. "Some of these are rather obvious. 'Smile genuinely.' I'm sure you've all met someone who just pulled his teeth back from his lips and called that a smile. It's not and it won't inspire warm feelings or even a smile in return. 'Your opening statement is crucial.' It's all the other person has to reply to, and when you're making contacts or flirting, you don't want to force the burden of the conversation on the other person. So don't box yourself in. Don't say 'wow, sure is hot in here.' What if the other person likes the heat? Ask them what they think and move on from there. Everyone likes talking about him or herself so find out their interests and focus your attention there."

Aly paused then rolled her eyes slightly. "But not to the exclusion of talking about yourself. Don't dodge questions. It's obvious and anyone smart enough to be your agent is smart enough to notice. I realise that sort of thing looks really good in the spy films or novels, but it just doesn't generally work. Give the person a reason to keep talking to you, give them a reason to share information about themselves. That's why you're planning in advance what you want to say."

"So, any questions about this, how you use it, why you use it, anything?" She asked, gazing around the room, meeting each student's eyes.

"For our second topic, we're going to talk about how to detect lies," Aly paused.  "There are a lot of fancy tricks that you hear about with this idea.  What we're going to do is simply talk about how to read what another person's body language is telling you.  And, possibly, how to mimic the type of body language that convinces others you're telling the truth."  She handed out a series of handouts and spent about five minutes running through the information on them.

"Okay then, today?  I want you to use both these topics together,"  Aly smirked.  "Flirt with someone else in the class, try to establish a rapport.  But do it all through lying."

[OOC: Please wait for the OCD threads are up.]

 

Comments

[Rev 3-20] Sign In

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

As you do.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Sign In

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

Princess Irulan Corrino

[Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Or note-taking and passing

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

Irulan suppressed a groan as she listened to the topic. Two subjects she was miserable in, truth detecting and flirting.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[sneerkite]

Steerpike was taking extremely detailed notes.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[defiantlyyours.livejournal.com]

No no no no no no no no no.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[morpherboy.livejournal.com]

Marco spent half a second thinking about how flirting could relate to his problems at home and half an hour praying for brain bleach.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Alec may have been grinning a little overmuch during the overview.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

D shook her head in slight amusement at the assignment.

Then realized that she was very glad certain people weren't taking this course.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

After being seduced by Jack Harkness the night before, Sam figured that she might actually be resistant to everyone else. Which didn't make her a better flirt, but oh, well.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker smirked. And refrained from throwing things at Kawalsky. Aly might think she was flirting, and that lead to weird places.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel was amused. This was much more fun then last week's class.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Questions over the Material

[strahl-pirate.livejournal.com]

Balthier didn't take any notes. In fact he looked quite confident once Aly revealed the topic of today's class.

[Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, flirting through lying...

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

Irulan looked around, looking uncomfortable. This was one of the classes in the Bene Gesserit she failed miserably at. She'd rather attend a greuling three day diplomatic meeting than attempt this.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[defiantlyyours.livejournal.com]

Like hell was he participating in this exercise. 6 gave off as much unapproachable in his vibe as possible.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

D stayed in her seat, calmly sipping her coffee, and waited to see who would approach.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam was amused by the assignment and watched everyone else while she waited for a partner.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker cocked an eyebrow, and stretched out her legs, looking amused. Hmmmm. Who to recruit to the cause...?

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[strahl-pirate.livejournal.com]

Balthier looked everything that a capable spy should. Meaning he looked nothing like a spy at all. If anything, he looked more like a confident well-born gentleman than anything else.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Pair up and Lie

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Hey, Anders remembered this from last semester. It didn't necessarily mean he was any better at it, though . . .

[Rev 3-20] Talk to Aly

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She's around before and after class.

Re: [Rev 3-20] Talk to Aly

[morpherboy.livejournal.com]

"Um...Ms ... " Marco blinked. "What is your last name anyways?"

Re: [Rev 3-20] Talk to Aly

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

"Um, Aly?" Marie said after class. "I just wanted to let you know that Jamie is off the planet at the moment and that's why he isn't here today."

[Rev 3-20] OOC

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for the redux class. *curls up far, far away from work*

Re: [Rev 3-20] OOC

[captainliberty]

Today hates everyone, huh? Good thing I canceled the week.