Page 50 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

Signs of Deception 91

• waffle and ambiguity;
• answering a question with a question such as ‘What do you expect me to say?’;
• attacking or praising the question such as ‘That is a good question’ or ‘I don’t know how you can

ask me that’;
• avoiding detail, often claiming loss of memory;
• answering a totally different question (this is a common ploy by politicians);
• limiting phrases such as ‘That’s about all I can tell you’, ‘I can’t think of anything further’, ‘That’s

about it.’

DISCONTINUITY PHRASE statement indicating that something has
been omitted (and probably important)
The subject said: ‘We went to the billiard hall, between ‘starting to drive towards Central
then to the pub and began to drive towards London’ and calling at the club.
Central London. Later on, we called in at the
club’. The phrase ‘later on’ is a discontinuity

It is truly amazing how often politicians are allowed to escape in television and radio in-
terviews without answering the question.

THE HEAD IN THE SAND AND THE TARTAN TERROR

Or as George Carman QC said of The Right the distinguished guest was at last relaxing,
Honourable David Mellor MP: ‘He buried his old Frostie produced a kidney punch. He
head in the sand, thus exposing his thinking asked about Mr Blair’s relationship with
parts’. On Sunday 26 January 2003, Tony Gordon Brown. Could both men still
Blair was interviewed by Sir David Frost. be in their jobs in a year’s time? Would
Quentin Letts reporting in the Express said: Gordon soon be looking for a new place
to live? Mr Blair stared in astonishment.
‘Later stages of the interview were Motionless. When he recovered himself he
devoted to domestic problems: college fees said lamely: “Gordon does a fantastic job.”
and immigration. Mr Blair’s tone deepened. “Marvellous,” said Frostie, with a clap of the
Maybe he thinks these are more of a threat palms.’
to his electoral chances. And then, just as

What Sir David should have done was to press home the question, maybe by crossing his
transactional relationship with the Prime Minister and to continue doing so until he got an
answer. Why he did not do this raises more questions than answers, but it is typical of all
humans in that they would rather be deceived than confront a lie.

The golden rule is to make sure that every relevant question is fully answered.
Relevant questions have to be repeated before a liar gives a meaningful answer

Generalizations

Generalizations may be used to craft a false explanation by drawing in general practice to
avoid answering a specific question.