Build a Substance Detector

Four habits that judge the idea, not the voice:

• Read it, don't hear it — picture the argument as plain text on a page. Strip away tone and ask if the words still hold up
• Favor hedgers — people who name the limits usually grasp the topic better than people who never do
• Ask "what's that based on?" — one question that instantly separates real support from empty confidence
• Pull in the quiet ones — invite the people who haven't spoken. They've often been thinking the longest