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Laying Low for Beginners, Thursday, Period1
Thursday, May 31st, 2018 06:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
uncertain_dume"Hey, guys," Kanan said, stepping into just a regular, ordinary classroom today, looking amused. "You know, I'm actually pretty happy with how you all did in last week's assignment. Even those of you who got caught," he wasn't looking at Sidon, but he was thinking about him all the same, "put forth a game effort."
No just flat-out antagonizing the Imps. Kanan was kind of thrilled.
"This week, we're going to talk a bit about what might have tripped a couple of you up last week. We're going to talk about tells. Little things that give you away as you to whoever might be keeping an eye open. It could be a facial feature, could be a nervous habit you don't even realize you have. Scars, clothing, the timbre of your voice, unfailing politeness..."
Sorry again, Sidon.
"Not everything is going to be something you can change. If it looks like a mynock and screeches like a mynock, nobody's going to mistake it for a kath hound. But it's still worth thinking about how to hide what's built-in if you need to. This week, though, we'll be focusing on tells that are easier to hide. Reflexes, like a quick dart of the eyes toward an exit when you're worried about being found out, or habits, like reaching for an item that you carry on you that you find to be a comfort. Hell, back in my smuggling days," had he mentioned he used to have smuggling days? Oh well, "a friend of mine pointed out that I had a habit of running my hand through my hair when I was nervous. I found a way to fix that."
By pulling his hair back into a ponytail. Simple fix, but it worked. It meant that he was always sort of at a loss for what to do with his hands, was prone to gesturing a lot while he spoke, working through a lot of pent-up nervous energy. But at least he couldn't run his fingers through his hair.
"By now, I think a few of you have been here long enough for your classmates to have picked up on some of your tells," he continued. "And odds are they aren't the ones you're trying to avoid. Take a few moments to talk among yourselves about habits or mannerisms you might have noticed in each other, or, if you're comfortable sharing with the class and want some advice, feel free. Otherwise... just keep this lecture in mind. Spend the next week trying to pick out little things you do when you're nervous, or angry, or relieved. Ask yourself why you're doing something when you find yourself reacting to your surroundings, and think about whether that's something you might want to figure out how to mask. For a lot of you, it probably isn't a life-or-death matter, but honing that sabacc face might still come in handy someday."
No just flat-out antagonizing the Imps. Kanan was kind of thrilled.
"This week, we're going to talk a bit about what might have tripped a couple of you up last week. We're going to talk about tells. Little things that give you away as you to whoever might be keeping an eye open. It could be a facial feature, could be a nervous habit you don't even realize you have. Scars, clothing, the timbre of your voice, unfailing politeness..."
Sorry again, Sidon.
"Not everything is going to be something you can change. If it looks like a mynock and screeches like a mynock, nobody's going to mistake it for a kath hound. But it's still worth thinking about how to hide what's built-in if you need to. This week, though, we'll be focusing on tells that are easier to hide. Reflexes, like a quick dart of the eyes toward an exit when you're worried about being found out, or habits, like reaching for an item that you carry on you that you find to be a comfort. Hell, back in my smuggling days," had he mentioned he used to have smuggling days? Oh well, "a friend of mine pointed out that I had a habit of running my hand through my hair when I was nervous. I found a way to fix that."
By pulling his hair back into a ponytail. Simple fix, but it worked. It meant that he was always sort of at a loss for what to do with his hands, was prone to gesturing a lot while he spoke, working through a lot of pent-up nervous energy. But at least he couldn't run his fingers through his hair.
"By now, I think a few of you have been here long enough for your classmates to have picked up on some of your tells," he continued. "And odds are they aren't the ones you're trying to avoid. Take a few moments to talk among yourselves about habits or mannerisms you might have noticed in each other, or, if you're comfortable sharing with the class and want some advice, feel free. Otherwise... just keep this lecture in mind. Spend the next week trying to pick out little things you do when you're nervous, or angry, or relieved. Ask yourself why you're doing something when you find yourself reacting to your surroundings, and think about whether that's something you might want to figure out how to mask. For a lot of you, it probably isn't a life-or-death matter, but honing that sabacc face might still come in handy someday."
