Clear signs to look out for when chasing the copy criminal

You want your reader to believe you. If they’re going to buy your product or service, you need them to trust you.

But, unwittingly, could you have copy that sounds like you’re lying? Psychologists have identified a long list of signs that indicate someone might be lying. And a lot of them can be detected in weak copy too. How can you tell? Let me explain using the “who ate the last biscuit” test. The following responses contain signs of lying:

“I did not eat the last biscuit”

“Didn’t” a simple shortening of “did not”. Often called a contraction. Some of us are haunted by memories of teachers, lecturers and tutors underlining these simple contractions in a nasty red pen. Academics hate contractions as they feel they lack gravity. But liars often avoid contractions to add extra emphasis to the denial. Interrogators call this a “non-contracted denial”.

Read the full article from A Thousand Monkeys here -> https://www.athousandmonkeys.co.uk/post/did-you-eat-the-last-biscuit-detecting-the-copy-criminal