Sought-after speaker Darren Stanton left behind a successful career as a frontline police officer to become a renowned body language expert and a human lie detector! Read his interview and learn more about him and his speaking career!
I was asked to step in at an event, I was never supposed to be speaking at, about 15 years ago as one of the speakers was taken ill, although I was extremely nervous, I quickly began to love it.
I think being asked to assess President Donald Trump, when he was first inaugurated. I had about a months work of assessing his body language and especially his bizarre way of shaking hands with other world leaders.
What got you interested in body language?
I had always been fascinated with people and being a former police officer, I always seemed to have a natural aptitude to tell when a suspect was going to turn violent or when suspects being interrogated were lying because of certain tells and gestures. This is what prompted a fascination that the body is always ' leaking ' information of what the person is really thinking, despite what they might be saying.
Is it possible to lie and get away with it?
Yes, techniques like mine, together with polygraphs can be beaten under certain circumstances. If a person is a psychopath or possess some other personality disorder then their perception of their reality is distorted. Since body language reflects the internal process of the mind this in turn will be distorted.
Why should clients use you for their next event?
Clients should use me at their next event because I believe it will equip them with a whole range of skills and knowledge that will enable them to spot others being deliberately deceptive, be in in business, negotiating or even in their private lives. My keynotes can also contain lots of interactive psychological games and demonstrations that never fail to inspire, excite or entertain.
I have had clients from a broad range of areas, universities, medical doctors and surgeons, pharmaceutical companies, sales – there is really no area of business that cannot learn from my talks.