The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

particularly toward the king. Louis had his ways, however, of testing
them. He would suddenly appear in their presence, without warning,
and look for the immediate expressions on their faces. He would
request a nobleman to move himself and his family to the palace of
Versailles, knowing that this was costly and unpleasant. He carefully
observed any signs of annoyance in the face or voice. He would say
something negative about another courtier, an ally of theirs, and notice
their immediate reaction. Enough signs of discomfort indicated secret
hostility.
If you suspect someone of feeling envy, talk about the latest good
news for you without appearing to brag. Look for microexpressions of
disappointment on their face. Use similar tests to probe for hidden
anger and resentments, eliciting the responses that people cannot
suppress so quickly. In general, people will want to see more of you,
want to see less of you, or be rather indifferent. They may fluctuate
among the three states, but they will tend to veer toward one. They will
reveal this in how quickly they respond to your emails or texts, their
body language on first seeing you, and the overall tone they take in
your presence.

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The value in detecting possible hostility or negative feelings early on
is that it increases your strategic options and room to maneuver. You
can lay a trap for people, intentionally stirring their hostility and
goading them into some aggressive action that will embarrass them in
the long run. Or you can work doubly hard to neutralize their dislike of
you and even win them over through a charm offensive. Or you can
simply create distance—not hiring them, firing them, refusing to
interact with them. In the end, you will make your path much
smoother by avoiding surprise battles and acts of sabotage.
On the other side of the coin, we generally have less of a need to
hide positive emotions from others, but nonetheless we often do not
like to emit obvious signs of joy and attraction, especially in work
situations, or even in courtship. People often prefer to display a cool
social front. So there is great value in being able to detect the signs that
people are falling under your spell.
According to research studies on facial cues by psychologists such
as Paul Ekman, E. H. Hess, and others, people who feel positive
emotions for you will display noticeable signs of relaxation in the facial
muscles, particularly in the lines of the forehead and the area around
the mouth; their lips will appear more fully exposed and the whole area
around their eyes will widen. These are all involuntary expressions of
comfort and openness. If the feelings are more intense, such as falling
in love, blood rushes to the face, animating all of the features. As part
of this excited state the pupils will dilate, an automatic response in
which the eyes let in more light. It is a sure sign that a person is
comfortable and likes what they are seeing. Along with the dilation the
eyebrows will rise, making the eyes look even bigger. We do not usually
pay attention to eye pupils because looking intently into another’s eyes
has an overtly sexual connotation. We must train ourselves to glance
quickly at the pupils when we notice any widening of the eyes.
In developing your skills in this arena, you must learn to distinguish
between the fake and the genuine smile. In trying to hide our negative
feelings, we most often resort to the fake smile, because it is easy and
people generally do not pay attention to the subtleties of smiles.
Because the genuine variety is less common, you must know how to
recognize it. The genuine smile will affect the muscles around the eyes
and widen them, often revealing crow’s-feet on the sides of the eyes. It
will also tend to pull the cheeks upward. There is no genuine smile
without a definite change in the eyes and cheeks. Some people will try

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to create the impression of the genuine variety by putting on a very
broad smile, which will partially alter the eyes as well. So in addition to
the physical signs, you must look at the context. The genuine smile
usually comes from some action or words that suddenly elicit the
response; it is spontaneous. Is the smile in this case somewhat
unrelated to the circumstances, not warranted by what was said? Is it a
situation in which a person is straining to impress or has strategic
goals in mind? Is the timing of the smile slightly off?
Perhaps the most telling indication of positive emotions comes from
the voice. It is much easier for us to control the face; we can look in a
mirror for such purposes. But unless we are professional actors, the
voice is very difficult to consciously modulate. When people are
engaged and excited to talk to you, the pitch of their voice rises,
indicating emotional arousal. Even if people are nervous, the tone of
the voice will be warm and natural, as opposed to the simulated
warmth of a salesman. You can detect an almost purring quality to the
voice, which some have likened to a vocal smile. You will notice also an
absence of tension and hesitation. In the course of a conversation there
is an equal level of banter, with the pace quickening, indicating
increasing rapport. A voice that is animated and happy tends to infect
us with the mood and elicit a similar response. We know it when we
feel it, but often we ignore these feelings and instead concentrate on
the friendly words or sales pitch.
Finally, monitoring nonverbal cues is essential in your attempts at
influencing and seducing people. It is the best way to gauge the degree
to which a person is falling under your spell. When people start to feel
comfortable in your presence, they will stand closer to you or lean in,
their arms not folded or revealing any tension. If you are giving a talk
or telling a story, frequent head nods, attentive gazes, and genuine
smiles will indicate that people agree with what you are saying and are
losing their resistance. They exchange more looks. Perhaps the best
and most exciting sign of all is synchrony, the other person
unconsciously mirroring you. Their legs cross in the same direction,
the head tilts in a similar manner, one smile inducing another. At the
deepest level of synchrony, as Milton Erickson discovered, you will find
breathing patterns falling into the same rhythm, which can sometimes
end in the complete synchrony of a kiss.
You can also train yourself to not only monitor these changes that
show your influence but induce them as well by displaying positive

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cues yourself. You begin to slowly stand or lean closer, revealing subtle
signs of openness. You nod and smile as others talk. You mirror their
behavior and their breathing patterns. As you do so, you watch for
signs of emotional infection, going further only when you detect the
slow crumbling of resistance.
With expert seducers who use all of the positive cues to mimic the
appearance that they are falling in love only to bring you more deeply
under their control, keep in mind that very few people naturally reveal
so much emotion so early on. If your supposed effect on them seems a
bit too rushed and perhaps contrived, tell them to slow down and
monitor their face for microexpressions of frustration.