The person you’re negotiating with may claim to have a better offer, but is she spinning a lie? And should you trust the contractor who promises to finish building your new house before winter sets? Nobody wants to be scammed, but at the same time we don’t want to doubt people who are telling us the gospel truth. Our guest in this episode is University of California Professor Clark Freshman, an expert on lie detection. Join us for our conversation about deception in negotiations—from little white lies to whoppers—and how to spot them. Here’s one tip: eye contact (or the lack of it) has nothing to do with truth-telling.

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First the good news. Empathy and understanding in negotiation often lead to creative problem-solving and foster productive relationships. This is the core of the win-win approach and it’s been confirmed in numerous studies. The not-so-good news is that being nice may backfire in negotiations that take place on platforms like Craigslist and eBay. In this episode our Harvard Business School colleague Mike Yeomans describes recent research he co-authored. His team found friendly language from negotiators often prompted counterparts to become more demanding. Listen in to hear how you can be firm without being nasty.

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