Spying: Week 4, Period 1

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Aly was relaxed and amused as the class congregated by the campfire.  "Hey guys," she said with a grin for the group of them.  "Hope you all had a good week.  Maybe even some of you thought of ways that disguises could be integrated into everyday life at Fandom right now.  Sometimes it's better to not make your identity obvious at first or second glance."  She wasn't going to go into any more detail at that, but she was confident some of the students, at least, would get the reference.

"Today we're going to talk about lying.  Very few people like to lie, but especially as a spy, it's a necessary skill - both to lie well yourself and to be able to tell when other people are lying. 

"As probably all of you know, there are plenty of tools - drugs, magic, technology, mental tricks to detect lies or conceal them, but for today, we're going to focus on simpler methods.  Observation, body language, the logic of how lies are constructed.  You're not always going to have an arsenal of fancy tricks at your disposal, and, going back to earlier classes, you need to be able to trust your instincts."

"So a few of the ways to tell when someone is lying without a fancy trick is to look at their body language.  Someone telling a lie usually tends to have limited physical expression, they keep their gestures and movement restrained in an unconscious attempt to be overlooked.  He or she will avoid eye contact with the person questioning them.  He might also try to place objects - like a book or a coffee cup between him and the person he's lying to.

"Another way to tell is simply by looking at the disconnect between a statement of emotion and the gesture that goes with it.  For instance if I say I love you, then smile a beat later, there's a disconnect there that can give you a clue.  Someone telling the truth - or an accomplished liar would smile saying 'I love you.'"

She grinned.  "All of which is well and good, and excellent to know.  So how do you avoid getting caught when you have a need to lie?  Pay attention to your body language.  Avoid the pitfalls we discussed here and that are on the papers I'm handing out.  The absolute best way is to construct a Liar's Palace in your mind that you can escape into when being questioned.  Which is sadly something that could be a course all of its own so I'm not going into it more here."

"Today, I have an interesting test for all of you to try on the laptop over there, and then I'd like everyone to pair up and lie to each other.  Try to use the techniques to tell if the other person is lying, try to be aware of your body language and make your lie undetectable.  And hey, it's a class on deception so change it up a bit.  See if you can trick your partner into thinking you're lying when you're telling the truth."  She grinned.  "If you want to try it with me, feel free."

[OOC: I am so, so sorry for the lateness of this class!  I had errand s to run and didn't get it done last night and it was just a comedy of errors.  So my abject apologies to all of you.  OCD is coming up]

Comments

[Spying 8/1] - Sign In

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

With your best liar's face *nods*

Re: [Spying 8/1] - Sign In

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette Hargrove

Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

If there are any, questions will be happily answered so that lying effectiveness can be increased.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette took notes, and she was grinning. It was always fun to lie. Well not lie lie in a bad sort of way. Okay, only with her parents was it sort of fun. But she would never admit that.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

Seely was grinning like a dork during the lecture.

And also somehow managing to look incredibly pouty about having to be there.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[umbitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, look, there was someone who wasn't a student taking a seat in the back of Aly's class. Her quill was writing furiously beside her and her nose was stuck in the air, a clear sigh that she felt superior than all this.

The class topic, lying, made her narrow her eyes. This teacher was going to be a problem that would need to be solved.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Aravis looked quite a bit more cheerful than she usually did at this hour of the morning.

No reason why.

Certainly this was not linked to the fact that she wasn't so much taking notes as doodling and occasionally shooting dorky affectionate totally emotionless looks at anyone else in the class.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders was paying close attention -- he could always stand to be able to lie better. Well, not like he had much to hide these days except for certain things he didn't actually know about, but it was a useful skill, right?

He was absolutely not shooting occasional baleful looks at a certain pink presence in the room. Really.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Kaarl took notes, because it was what he did, but he was relieved to finally have a lesson in which he felt confident. He had learned similar things as Ulrich's secretary, and was quite confident about his ability to detect a liar, and to lie himself.

Even if he really didn't want to do the latter.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Gavin twirled a pen around on his desk. His mind was elsewhere today.

Re: Chat, Take Notes, or Ask Questions

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

Kabuto couldn't exactly take notes, which was really too bad. This was one of his specialties.

Spot the Fake Smile!

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

See how many you get right and ping in with the number

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/


...yeah, I know, it's a reusing, but I loves it so!

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

11 out of 20 right....

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[falcon-or-blade.livejournal.com]

Faile got 17 out of 20.

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[blackmagic-eve.livejournal.com]

15 out of 20!

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[not_in_the_book]

11 out of 20! Ronan is totally disappointed, and vows to improve his ability to tell when someone is lying.

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Seventeen out of twenty, and Karal was very pleased with that result.

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Gavin got 17 out of 20. He was really surprised by that high mark.

Re: Spot the Fake Smile!

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

9 out of 20. Most disappointing, especially with her training.

[Spying 8/1] - Lie to Each Other

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Because seriously, FUN.

Re: [Spying 8/1] - Lie to Each Other

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette was really, seriously ready to lie.

Re: [Spying 8/1] - Lie to Each Other

[blackmagic-eve.livejournal.com]

Asking Eve to lie to someone was like asking an Olympic-medal athlete to compete in their event.

So yeah. She was so ready.

Re: [Spying 8/1] - Lie to Each Other

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan was certain he'd be better at lying than he was at being able to identify the fake smiles.

[Spying 8/1] - Talk to Aly

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Because she's around and looking pleased with herself.

*sighs at her*

Re: [Spying 8/1] - Talk to Aly

[not_in_the_book]

"Professor?" Ronan said, a bit softly. "I was wondering if I might ask you a question?"

[Spying 8/1] - OOC

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Go off and do good with this knowledge!