Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth In 5 Minutes Or Less In Any Conversation Or Situation [Paperback]

David J. Lieberman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When liars are being accused of something, they'll stay calm because they're working on their rebuttal; this is why detectives were suspicious of O.J. Simpson when he didn't express outrage when accused of murdering his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman. Never Be Lied to Again is bursting with tested tips like this for quickly determining when you're being boondoggled. Body language, facial expressions, sentence structure, and word choice can all reveal when someone is lying, says psychologist David J. Lieberman, and he includes 46 of these "clues to deception" to help you, including tricks for framing questions without putting others on the defense. Once you use your newly honed "human lie detector" skills to figure out if you're being lied to, you can then dig for the truth using the specific, influential words and body postures that Lieberman suggests. Written with flair and humor, Never Be Lied to Again is designed to help you get the upper hand in any situation, whether you're trying to figure out if your spouse is cheating on you or if you suspect your coworkers are cooking the books. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A fascinating book." --National Public Radio

"This book can change your life. Best of all it's easy to read and you can apply the [techniques] instantly." --Dr. Warner Chen, Faculty Fellow of Harvard University

"If you want to find out whether your boyfriend is cheating, your boss is getting away with murder, or the life-insurance salesman is playing you for a fool, read on." --Cosmopolitan
-- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312204280
• ISBN-13: 978-0312204280
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (162 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #20,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

219 of 241 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You won't get much out of this one, July 21, 2005

By	Ph.D. Candidate (University of Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth In 5 Minutes Or Less In Any Conversation Or Situation (Paperback)

I've never given one star, but this was the closest I have come in a long time.

After reading "Never Be Lied to Again" I was shocked to see people had rated it so high. I am a fifth year grad student studying psychology and law. While detecting deceit is not my primary area of research, I have read a decent amount of the literature. The information in this book seems to conflict with some of the most widely accepted findings in the research community. For example, Dr. Lieberman claims that when someone is lying they do not give details because "the event never happened." However, empirical research shows that people tend to give "too many" details, because they are trying to convince you. There are several discrepancies of this nature.

Dr. Lieberman says this book was a result of his own research. Out of curiosity, I entered his name in a PsycINFO word search. PsycINFO is a database of over 2000 psychological journals, most of them peer reviewed (and, therefore, accepted by others who study the topic). Dr. Lieberman's name did not produce any results. Books are troublesome in that regard. You can write anything you want and pass it off as fact. He also proudly displays those three all-important-letters behind his name, but he never says where he earned his Ph.D. I am not suggesting he got his degree on-line, but it would be nice if he added that information to the biography section.

To be fair, I am guess I'm not the target audience for this book. It's really more of a pop-culture book. The kind of thing advertised on the Today Show. But it troubles me that some of the information is wrong. Two good things about this book:

1. It is definitely a quick read that you could finish in a day or two. But that is because all the wasted space between chapters and sections. There are over 200 pages in the book but without the wasted space it would have been closer to about 125. Of course, nobody would buy it then.

2. I guess it would look good on your shelf, if you are into that kind of thing. As long as others haven't read it you could probably convince them that you learned a lot in the book and can tell when they are lying.

Ironically, one of the sections is entitled "A White Lab Coat Doesn't Make Anyone an Expert." Having a Ph.D. doesn't either. Bottom line, I am kicking myself for paying full price for this book. If you can get one for 5 or 6 bucks (or if money is no object), and you interested by the mixed reviews, why not give it a try? But don't get your hopes up. I personally won't be buying anymore of his books.

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It only works for the "Guilty Liar", December 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth In 5 Minutes Or Less In Any Conversation Or Situation (Hardcover)

The book is allright. It helps if the person who's lying to you feels guilty about it. Or perhaps if they are telling a white lie, and you want to get the truth. But, if the guy doesn't care that he's lying, this book won't help. It's all based on anxiety leaking through body language. Therefore, it also will identify a shy or self conscious person as a liar. Another problem: if the person is lying to himself AND you, it doesn't help either. Because the person REALLY BELIEVES what he is saying is true, even if it's not. This book identified an old girlfriend of mine as being sincere, even though she was lying, because she had fooled herself into believing what she was saying. Not altogether too useful for sorting through mixed / contradictory messages.

179 of 203 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liar, Liar now I know!, November 18, 2001

By	Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth In 5 Minutes Or Less In Any Conversation Or Situation (Paperback)

Another great book from the author that I have come to consider one of the most enlightened professionals in the field of human behavior. Dr. David J. Lieberman, Ph.D. has written several books that have been translated into several languages and are consistently best sellers because he truly understands the psychological principles that affect us. Yet he has an easy writing style that is easy to follow and easy to understand.

This is a stellar book for those wishing to understand deception and how to uncover the truth. Like all books of this type it provides a wealth of information but you have to apply this information. I decided to try practicing by using some of the techniques on the television game show "To tell the truth". While this is not the best situation because the camera often leaves the contestants and it would be better to be able to view them all at all times, it is still a good place to practice. Did it work? Well, at the beginning I was getting the right person about one third of the time. A week later I was finding out who was lying ninety percent of the time! Now that is an excellent improvement!

Okay, detecting when you are being lied to is one thing. Finding out the truth can be another. Dr. Lieberman has received some criticism for this section of the book. It seems that many people have problems with some of the techniques. That is not to say that they are ineffective, they work well. Some people have problems with such things as "leading questions" or feel that you are being deceptive when you ask an open-ended question. What parent has not enjoyed the surprises that come forth after telling their child "I know what you did and it will go easier on you if you just confess now". Of course the child is wondering what thing that the parent knows about because they want to confess to the thing they know about and get a lesser punishment. But they don't want to confess to things the parent doesn't know about.

To have a problem with doing the same thing puts one in the position of having to defend the idea that something that is wrong to do with adults is okay with children because they are somehow less deserving of respect. Or, perhaps, an adult who is lying to you is more deserving of respect than a child who is being honest with you. Not a position that I would want to be in.

Well, if you still have a problem with some of the techniques of getting to the truth then you can just try confronting them with the lies that you have uncovered. Remember that I successfully moved my ability to detect lies from one third to ninety percent just by using the information and not interacting with the person on the television at all. All I had to do was watch them and listen to what they said.

I thought that it was great that he also included a chapter on being our own worst enemy... when we lie to ourselves.

In summary, it is a highly recommended book and very useful. It details why you should suspect lying in various circumstances and how to confirm those suspicions. Is it effective? Yes. However, if you are dealing with a problem of a friend, co-worker or someone else that you have to deal with on a regular basis lying to you then I would recommend a couple of additional books to help you confront them diplomatically and maintain the relationship. One would be "Words that Hurt, Words that Heal" and the other would be "Get Anyone to Do Anything".