However, if the person feels judged or like you’re trying to trap them, they will disengage and stop listening. We see this in the context of police interrogation time and time again. It can seem almost irresistible to slam a piece of conflicting evidence on the table and say, ‘Oh yeah? Explain this then!’ This only works in TV dramas. In the real world, such a tactic is exactly what leads to someone clamming up and asking for their solicitor. Cornering someone rarely leads to them suddenly cooperating. Instead, in most cases it leads to them adopting the conversational equivalent of the brace
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