CIA Spy: The Psychological Skill 99% of People Don’t Have
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What CIA skills can be applied to everyday civilian life?
So what are some of the top skills that you think you learned working for the CIA that you can then apply to like real civilian life or the world?
Yeah, there there are a lot of skills that you learn at CIA, but the ones that are the most applicable really have to do with understanding and predicting and directing human behavior.
Mm-hmm.
Human beings aren't really that difficult to understand and they're not that difficult to predict which makes them not that difficult to control or direct. And those were the most useful skills that we learned at CIA.
Give me an example.
So um let me give a very funny example, right? I do this exp I do this oftentimes with people. We are conditioned to make certain body movements just based off of what we encounter, right? So when we first met, I extended my hand. Yeah. Which even now you know I'm not trying to shake your hands, but you still feel the need to put your hand out. Yeah. That's predictable directing human behavior, right? With personal bubbles. I can literally move you. If we're standing next to each other, I can literally move you someplace where I want you to go just by invading your personal bubble. I know that if I silently stand too close to you, you will move away. And people do this all the time. People do it in lines, they do it in elevators.
What CIA does is teaches you how to do it intentionally with operational utility to achieve a certain outcome that you want. The same thing is true when it comes to getting someone to speak. You can get someone to speak when they don't want to speak. You can get someone to say things they don't realize they're saying by using tools of elicitation. Just as a real quick example. I'm going to stop talking. Just kind of count to yourself how many seconds go by before you start to feel like you need to say something because the silence is so awkward.
I mean I be I ha yeah. Like I oh I I would go, I wouldn't even that was awkward, even though I knew you were doing it on purpose, it's still awkward.
It's still awkward. So that can force you to get someone else to speak. I was counting in my own head, it was about two and a half seconds before I could see the muscles on your face start to tighten into a smile where you're like, I could tell you felt awkward.
Yeah.
This I mean these skills are rudimentary. What we're going through right now are just simple things that that we can demonstrate right now. If I started playing the national anthem, you know what you would do? What? Stand up. Right, because that's just what happens. What when you play the national anthem, when we say, when we say, uh, you know, put your hand over your heart, people do. Take off your hat, people do. You don't even have to know why. If if someone just walks up to a man and says, Sir, can you please remove your hat?
How does personal space influence human behavior and decision‑making?
You know what that man is going to do? Remove his hat. Not even knowing why, but just because we've been conditioned to believe that there's some reason that we should obey the direction of somebody. Else when a stranger tells us to do something, we feel like we need to do it. There are behaviors worldwide. that fit these kinds of predetermined outcomes. S the the personal bubble in Europe is very s much smaller than the personal bubble in the US, but they're still a personal bubble. Different new national anthems in different countries, but they still have the same reaction. People still stand up. They stop talking. They show a moment of silence. Pip they turn towards a flag. So these are the kind of um indicators that we're taught to look for.
And i in in very basic terms because they go on and on. They go through, you know, eye movements, facial movements, how you touch your face. There's all sorts of skills that you can see whether or not you're driving a behavior.
So that's so interesting to me. So like what is pr w what did you call it when you can move someone like by doing directing
human behavior.
Not d no, but you're saying like putting your hand out, for example, knowing that I was gonna do the same thing. What is that called?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What CIA skills can be applied to everyday civilian life?
0:00–2:41
2
How does personal space influence human behavior and decision‑making?
2:41–4:42
3
What techniques does the CIA use to elicit speech from a reluctant person?
4:42–6:38
4
How can you identify and use emotional levers to persuade someone?
6:38–10:34
5
What’s the difference between persuasion (emotional) and influence (non‑present)?
10:34–12:49
6
Which questioning styles (open vs. closed) drive deeper conversations?
12:49–15:17
7
How do time, energy, and money shape a client’s strategic plan?
15:17–18:30
8
Why is self‑awareness crucial before defining the outcome you want?
18:30–21:24
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from EverydaySpy Podcast
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