8 Manipulation Tricks to Be Mindful of

1. Second Guessing
   Be aware that someone might try to make you second guess yourself, by simply asking: “Are you sure about that?“
   
   
2. Argument
   If someone tries to argue with you, stay calm and firmly whisper your response. They will have to quiet down to hear you.
   
   
3. Sorry
   When someone says sorry to you, don’t just respond “No problem“. Say “Thank you“. This will significantly increase the chances of them not doing it again.
   
   
4. Bullying
   If someone bullies you, laugh at them. That will often make them become embarrassed, which neutralizes the situation.
   
   
5. Stop Yelling
   To stop someone from yelling at you, stand closer to them, and say “Having a bad day?” This will divert their attention to themselves as well as give them an offramp (without losing too much face), and in most cases defuse the situation.
   
   
6. Stop Talking
   If you are in a situation where you need someone to stop talking, drop an item on the ground/floor, and interrupt them as you pick it up.
   
   
7. Divert Attention
   Be aware that others may attempt to divert your attention by swiftly digressing through commenting on something seemingly irrelevant to the situation (things happening in the background, or some random thought they had). Then they will re-initiate the conversation again only at a slightly different place than where you left off. This is to make you loose the conversation thread, and to steer the interaction from there (possibly to avoid a topic or question they didn’t find compelling).
   
   
8. Divert Attention
   Another way that someone might try to divert your attention from a topic, is to ask you a personal question. This can be designed to make you focus on yourself instead, and forget the topic or pressing question at hand.

Slideshow version of this article covering 8 Manipulation Tricks to Be Mindful of.