Former FBI agent reveals how the pros use body language to read suspects, looking at everything from the way they walk, to their reaction to a smile in order to size them up 

The FBI wouldn’t be the FBI without an army of highly-perceptive individuals – but you don’t have to have a job hunting down criminals in order to make use of the same skills.

Just ask LaRae Quy, 59, who was a counterintelligence agent for the Bureau for 23 years and now spends her time passing on the tips and tricks she learned on the job. And as part of her latest endeavour in a long line of the inside information she has shared, the former agent is offering up her own guide on how to read people.

‘You don't need to be a top-notch interrogator to figure out what is going on in someone's head,’ San Francisco-based LaRae tells Inc.com. ‘The signals are always there - all you need to do is know what to look for.’

The pro: LaRae Quy, 59, was a a counterintelligence agent for the Bureau for 23 years, and now works as a writer, speaker and educator

The tips that LaRae offers are not only useful in personal relationships, but can also be beneficial in business settings.

First, LaRae instructs, it’s important to define a baseline with an individual so that mannerisms or behavioral quirks are not mistaken for something more telling.

Agency: During her time with the FBI, LaRae exposed foreign spies

Squinting, shifting, crossing arms or stroking the neck could all be normal habits for some people, but according to the former FBI agent, ‘these same actions could be indicative of deception, anger, or nervousness’.

After a baseline is established, it’s easier to spot deviations from it. Is the person looking at the floor, when they normally are consistent in their eye contact? 

Or perhaps in creating your baseline for a person who have already been able to associate certain behaviors with nervousness, frustration or avoidance, and therefore will be more prepared to handle the ensuing situation.

Another tip LaRae offers is to monitor gestures that appear in a cluster. 

Using an example from a business situation, she writes: ‘For example, not only does your supplier keep clearing his throat, but he also does that head scratching thing. 

And he keeps shuffling his feet. Proceed with caution’.

Next, it’s important to observe the individual’s interaction with others and see if the deviated behaviors persist with others as well as yourself.

Taking note of someone’s reactions to your own mannerisms is also important, says LaRae: ‘Mirror neurons are built-in monitors in our brain that reflect other people's state of mind. We are wired to read one another's body language’.

She adds: ‘When we see someone we like, our eyebrows arch, facial muscles relax, head tilts, and blood flows to our lips making them full.’ 

Getting a read: A former FBI agent has revealed the tips and tricks behind reading people in any number of situations (file photo)

So, if you smile at someone in such a way and they don’t respond with the same, then something is amiss.

For the group business setting, LaRae offers the way to master pitching an idea by not focussing necessarily on the group leader – the person with the most impressive title – but rather on the ‘strong voice’ in the room.

This person, she says, should have an ‘expansive posture, strong voice and a big smile’. If the leader is not the strong voice, it could indicate that he or she is a weak personality that relies on the opinions of others when it comes to decision-making.

A focus on specific words is a particularly valuable skill that LaRae says she used during her time as an agent, explaining that the use of action words such as ‘decided’ ‘offer insights into the way a person thinks’.

But it’s not just about how people talk the talk, someone’s walk can also tell a lot about their inner workings. For example, LaRae explains that ‘people who shuffle along, lack a flowing motion in their movements, or keep their head down lack self-confidence’.

In the case that such a person is a team member at work, they may be in need of commendation or a more direct approach to interacting.

Lastly, LaRae champions the use of personality clues to read individuals in the most accurate manner possible. Observing someone over time, it should be possible to see what drives them, how they handle pressure and whether they are outgoing or introverted. Knowing these basic facts about a person can increase the likelihood of being able to accurately read them.

LaRae, who exposed foreign spies and recruited them for the U.S. government during her time as an agent, has since developed a way to teach people outside the FBI how to be mentally tough.