Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Truth Detector  By  cover art

The Truth Detector

By: Jack Schafer, Marvin Karlins PhD
Narrated by: George Newbern
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.49

Buy for $13.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

This paradigm shifting how-to guide effortlessly teaches you how to outwit liars and get them to reveal the truth from former FBI agent and author of the "practical and insightful" (William Ury, coauthor of Getting to Yes) best seller The Like Switch.

Unlike many other books on lie detection and behavioral analysis, this revolutionary guide reveals the FBI-developed practice of elicitation, the field-tested technique for detecting deception and encouraging people to provide information they would otherwise keep secret. Now you can learn this astonishing method directly from the expert who created this technique and pioneered it for the FBI.

Filled with easy-to-follow, accessible lessons reinforced by fascinating stories of how to put these skills put into action using natural human behaviors, The Truth Detector shows you all of the tips and techniques you need to gain someone's trust and get liars to reveal the truth.

©2020 John Schafer, Ph.D. and Marvin Karlins, Ph.D. All rights reserved (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about The Truth Detector

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    140
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    118
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    111
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good information on getting people to talk

it's a good study of getting people to give up information they don't want to tell you without them realizing they are

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredibly Insightful

Incredibly interesting book on human behaviour and solicitation. Dr. Schafer does a great job showing how solicitation is used and ways to defend against it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love this and his last book.

I think it’s Amazing how some people seem to have this natural ability to do this with out thinking. I know a few. Even tho it’s noticeable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal

Great read. The 16 elicitation techniques explained in this book definitely work. Jack Schafer’s books are amazing. Also, George Newbern does a terrific job narrating this book. He’s the best at what he does!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Jedi Master at his best

The title of this book is GENIUS. Jack lays the material and lessons out in such a way as the commercial says a caveman can do it….

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Supplement to Never Split the Difference

This is a good way to get people to reveal the truth, but if I were being critical, I strongly feel that some of the examples given in this book were very situational. It's not like it's going to work 100% of the time. For example, giving away the code to a lock.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book filled with practical examples

While I was familiar with nearly all of the techniques, strategies and social psychology cited, I found it so helpful to learn from an ex FBI law enforcement expert how it is used in espionage and with criminals.
I ordered the paperback too. A rare act but, this book has lists of techniques I wish to have visual access to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

If you like Chris Voss

If you liked Chris Voss' book Never Split the Difference: The Art of Negotiation, you will want to add this title to your library. Very complimentary to that book. This is similar but more focused on elicitation rather than negotiation. Applied, it will make you a better sales person or business person. Useful in anyone's day to day life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent author and narrator

Love this book, Some information over laped from his previous book, but still a great read. Narrator is superb. I Personally can't get into audio books if narration has an annoying, raspy voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

more of "like switch"

If you haven't read "The Like Switch," this is really good. If you HAVE read Like Switch, this is still pretty good, but you've already read about a third of it.

I'd love to get one book of these two combined, because the author re-uses a LOT of the same stories, and after a while I just got bored. If these two books were classes at a school, I would feel cheated for having paid for both of them. Since they're standalone books, I understand that some of the same ground has to be covered for people who are only going to read one or the other. But that doesn't make it any less boring and/or frustrating to have to slog through so much of the same material twice.

The narrator is fairly good. He doesn't read in a natural speaking voice, but sounds like he's reading a book. That's okay, because he IS reading a book. It would be better if he sounded like a college professor giving a lecture, but sounding like a man reading a book is just fine.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!