Anna Leslie
Anna Leslie is one of CREST’s Research to Practice Fellows. Throughout her 20-year career, Anna has applied behavioural science research to tackle some of the toughest challenges in the public and private sectors, both in the UK and abroad.
Anna has spent a substantial period of her career working in the public sector. She led multi-disciplinary teams of behavioural scientists, providing expert risk assessment and consultancy support to frontline practitioners within law enforcement, security, intelligence and defence operations for the British Government in both Britain and Northern Ireland. She has an extensive background developing and delivering foundational and advanced professional development training for frontline officers and staff across the UK and internationally.
In the private sector, Anna has worked in financial services and technology. As Head of Behavioural Science at Nasdaq, she developed behavioural science-led technical solutions to improve detection and investigation of financial crime and insider trading. In 2023, she co-founded Let’s Think, a behavioural science AI company developing novel technology to reveal, retain and share the knowledge and expertise that helps people think brilliantly. By moving the professions beyond automation technology that thinks for you, to science-led technology that helps you think smarter, Let’s Think is poised to not only disrupt traditional training models but also to help organisations better utilise their most valuable asset — the expertise of their most experienced practitioners.
CREST outputs
Articles
Academic Publications
Communication errors in online interactions: examining cultural differences in perceptions of rapport and preferred recovery strategies
Abstract from journal:
Information gathering, including in covert contexts, increasingly takes place in online environments amongst individuals from different cultures. Given that rapport facilitates information gathering, we investigated the perceived impact of communication errors on rapport in brief online interactions. In a pre-registered experiment (N = 191), we examined detection of errors, their effect on perceived rapport, recovery strategy preferences, and cultural differences between UK (low-context) and Chinese (high-context) participants. Results showed sensitivity to subtle communication breaches, with judgment errors significantly reducing perceived rapport. Apology emerged as the most effective recovery strategy, especially among Chinese participants, perhaps reflecting cultural preferences for relational harmony. Interestingly, both cultural groups similarly detected errors, suggesting shared digital norms. These findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of online rapport-building and cross-cultural communication, emphasizing the relevance of relational cues in online interactions - even those with investigative or covert aims.
Hope, L., De La Fuente, A., Kontogianni, F., Leslie, A., & Oostinga, M. S. D. (2026). Communication errors in online interactions: examining cultural differences in perceptions of rapport and preferred recovery strategies. Oñati Socio-Legal Series. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2354