Advertise on podcast: How Words Work with Jack Fox

Jack Fox has spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the most consistent things he has found is that the people who give themselves away do so because someone was truly listening to them. Not waiting for their turn to speak. Actually listening. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox makes the case that listening is the most underrated communication skill most people have. He looks at what happens in the brain when someone feels truly heard, what the research says about listening and trust, and what changes in your conversations when you stop forming your response before the other person has finished. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Fox posted something recently about convincing language. That the most powerful thing you can remove from your own words is the convincing. That when you stop trying to make people believe you, you become considerably more believable. Someone replied with this. I'm more aware that I have a habit of over-explaining. Now, how do I fix the last 49 years of doing it? That question stopped Jack Fox. Because it is the most honest version of something he hears all the time. This episode is his answer. Three things. Simple ones. The kind you can use in your next conversation. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And in all that time one of the most consistent things I've found is that the words someone chooses are the words that matter to them. Change those words and you've changed the meaning, at least in their head. In this episode of How Words Work, I look at two things that make the person you're talking to feel genuinely heard. Using their name. And using their words. Not a polished version of what they said. Not your interpretation of it. The actual words they chose. Because those words are how they see the thing. And when you use them back, it makes a difference. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the most revealing moments in any conversation isn't the answer someone gives. It's what happens in the seconds before. Do they let the question finish? Do they start with the answer or manage it first? Do they say I don't know when they don't know? Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I say honestly all the time and I'm not a liar. I know. And this episode is for you. The patterns this podcast pulls apart in criminals and manipulators show up in honest, well-intentioned people every single day. Not because those people are deceptive. Because they're nervous. Because they lack confidence in that moment. Because they're trying to please the person they're talking to. And the person listening can't tell the difference. Their brain has spent a lifetime building a library of how bad people sound. And when your words match that library, the alarm goes off. Even when everything you're saying is true. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox explains why honest people trigger the same alarm as the people who deserve it, asks whether your other words are getting in the way too, and puts the one question that matters in your hands. What is this costing you? Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Lindsay Clancy trial an expert witness, Dr Avram Mack, provided a great example of something I warn against: starting answers with the word "so". Listen, as his credibility erodes through this tactic, the attorney notices, then the judge notices and what Dr Mack has to say gets lost because he sounds like he's evading answering the question. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I get this question more than any other. Is this word bad? Should I stop saying it? And the answer is always the same. Words aren't good or bad. They're just words. But every word you say sends a signal to the person hearing it. And here is the thing most people don't know. Every one of us has been lied to, manipulated, let down by someone who turned out not to be who we thought. And our brain filed that away. It built a library of how those people sounded. Now that library runs in the background of every conversation we have. The moment someone uses one of those patterns, an alarm goes off. Not loudly. But it goes off. The innocent person, the nervous person, the people pleaser. They're triggering that alarm without knowing it exists. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox shows you how to audit your own words, understand what signal they're sending, and decide for yourself whether that signal is one you want to keep paying for. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the things I've found is that some of the most revealing words in any statement aren't the big ones. They're the tiny softeners. Basically. Really. Normally. Usually. Typically. Every one of these words confesses something the speaker never intended to admit. In this episode of How Words Work, I show you exactly what these words are giving away, why suspects and manipulators reach for them, and why you're reaching for them too without realising it. Because when you say basically you're confessing that the full picture is more complicated than what you're sharing. When you say normally you're confessing that exceptions exist. When you say really you're confessing that your certainty isn't as solid as you're presenting. Strip these words out and replace them with the specific true thing. Your sentences will be shorter, more authoritative and more trusted. This is How Words Work with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals. And in all that time the most important thing I've learned is this. You already know how to hear the difference between someone you trust and someone you don't. You've always known. Today I'm going to prove it. I'm going to play you two real 911 calls. No labels. No clues. Just two men talking. And I want you to notice which one you trust. Because by the end of this episode you'll understand exactly why you felt what you felt. And you'll know how to make sure every conversation you have builds the kind of credibility that makes people want to say yes to you. This is How Words Work with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone asks you a question. A simple one. And instead of answering it, you tell them the story around it. The context. The background. The reasons. The timeline. By the time you stop talking they know a lot about your situation and nothing about what they asked. This is one of the most common ways people undermine their own credibility without realising it. And it gets worse the more nervous or uncomfortable you are. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox uses a clip from Netflix's Maternal Instinct to show exactly what storytelling instead of answering sounds like, why the listener always feels it, and how answering the question first, simply and directly, is one of the most powerful things you can do for your confidence and credibility. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Netflix's The Crash, Mackenzie Shirilla talked about her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend Davion Flanagan. She said what she thought a grieving, innocent person should say. Loving. Protective. Partners. Full of life. Good person. Soulmate. Every word calculated to make the audience feel warmly towards her. And the audience felt nothing. Because when you say what you think people want to hear rather than what is true, the person on the other side always knows. They can't always name it. But they feel it. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox uses Mackenzie's interview to show exactly what people pleasing sounds like, why it never works, and what to say instead. Because the chances are you do this too. Not in a murder trial. But in the conversations that matter to you. And the fix is simple. Say what's inside you, not what you presume someone wants to hear. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In May 2026 Netflix released The Crash, a documentary about Mackenzie Shirilla, convicted of the murders of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Before the documentary, most people had never heard of her. She had a blank page and an audience who came in open minded and ready to listen. By the time the interview was over, most of them weren't buying her innocence. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox breaks down exactly what she said that closed the door on her. Three patterns. All of them things that any of us can fall into when we feel nervous or unconfident. And three simple things you can do instead to make sure your words work for you, not against you. Credible newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US military spent decades working out how to write emails that can't be misunderstood under pressure. They landed on three rules. Subject lines that say what the email actually wants. Bottom Line Up Front. Active voice and economy of words. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox takes Kabir Sehgal's brilliant Harvard Business Review piece on military email writing and shows why those three rules are accidentally a masterclass in not sounding like someone hiding something. The military got there by trying to be efficient. The same rules also make you sound trustworthy. Break them, and you start to sound like every weak statement Jack has ever pulled apart. By the end of this episode you'll write shorter, clearer, more authoritative emails, and you'll know exactly why the long ones never landed the way you hoped. Kabir Sehgal's original article: https://kabir.cc/how-to-write-email-with-military-precision/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When OJ Simpson stood up at his arraignment in 1994 he didn't say "not guilty". He said "absolutely, 100 percent not guilty". Three extra words that mean nothing legally, because "not guilty" is a binary. You can't be more not guilty than not guilty. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox breaks down why people add convincing language to their own statements when nobody has asked them to, why that hype always lands as weakness, and the one place where convincing language is genuinely useful. From OJ at his arraignment to your colleague in a meeting to the dating profile that protests too much, you'll learn how to spot the hype, what it's protecting, and how to remove it from your own speech so your words finally carry their own weight. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. 📩 Jack's weekly newsletter Credible lands every week with one idea you can use straight away. Sign up here: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In May 2024, CNN released hotel surveillance footage of Sean "Diddy" Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Within 24 hours, Diddy posted a 70-second apology video to Instagram. He never said her name. Not once. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox breaks down the four mechanical moves that turn an apology into a performance: erasing the victim, distancing the act, becoming the protagonist of your own redemption story, and piling on the convincing language. You'll hear exactly how Diddy did all four in less than 70 seconds, and you'll start to spot the same blueprint in workplace apologies, partner apologies, celebrity statements and crisis PR everywhere. By the end you'll know how to hear a real apology and how to give one. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox. 📩 Jack's weekly newsletter Credible lands every week with one idea you can use straight away. Sign up here: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Content note: this episode discusses domestic violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.