I'm coming to recognize the value of dark triad behaviors in life beyond the SMP and would like to hone these skills, but I'm mystified at how you're supposed to cultivate some of them. Particularly, how can you actively become Machiavellian? It seems to involve a level of premeditation that I find hard to fathom, combined with a glibness that doesn't come naturally to me at all, particularly in that I'm simply not a good liar.

How have you people done this? How do you spot opportunities to practice manipulations? What are some of your real-life examples of learning this as a skill? Is it possible to manipulate well using only truths, lies of ommission, and misdirection/distraction, without learning to blithely state falsehoods and try to keep them straight?