An FBI Agent Shares 9 Secrets to Reading People

The ability to read others will greatly affect how you deal with them. When you understand how another person is feeling, you can adapt your message and communication style to make sure it is received in the best way possible.

But what should you be listening for? And what other signs can tip you off to what someone is thinking or feeling?

If you follow my column, you're familiar with LaRae Quy. LaRae, who spent 23 years as a counterintelligence agent for the FBI, now spends her time writing, speaking, and teaching others tips that she learned while working for the Bureau. Those tips provide valuable lessons for entrepreneurs, business owners, and everyone else.

As LaRae put it well:

"You don't need to be a top-notch interrogator to figure out what is going on in someone's head. The signals are always there--all you need to do is know what to look for."

Here are her 9 tips for reading others:

1. Create a baseline
2. Look for deviations
3. Notice clusters of gestures
4. Compare and contrast
5. Look into the mirror
6. Identify the strong voice
7. Observe how they walk
8. Pinpoint action words
9. Look for personality clues

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The 10 stuff-ups we all make when interpreting research

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: What do we actually mean by research and how does it help inform our understanding of things? Understanding what’s being said in any new research can be challenging and there are some common mistakes that people make.

Have you ever tried to interpret some new research to work out what the study means in the grand scheme of things?

Well maybe you’re smart and didn’t make any mistakes – but more likely you’re like most humans and accidentally made one of these 10 stuff ups.

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