Lying is something that happens everyday in every society. A person may want to to deceive, maintain a secret or reputation, or to avoid punishment. In business, politics, romance or at home it happens and it would also be nice to know when we’re being lied to.
Lack Of Detail
Consciously Trying Too Hard
Being Open To Possibilities
Change Of Subject
Level Of Comfort
Unusually Longer Response
Filling The Gap
Ah’s Um’s Er’s
Over Formal Speech
Very Few Gestures And No Pointing
Conflict In Verbal And Physical Projection
Most Obvious Giveaway
Fidgeting is the most obvious giveaway. Watch for hands and legs that are shaky, rubbing, stiff, self directed, touching the face, nose, chest or behind the ear. Arms crossed over the chest while speaking is the body language for protection and sense of insecurity linked to lying. Other actions include biting the lip, covering the mouth, rubbing the forehead or temple, squinting of the eyes or rubbing of the neck. Women tend to touch their throat’s trachial area.
Repeating protests of innocence.
Liars’ stories often lack detail. Push for particulars. The more specific details that a liar has to provide, the more likely he is to slip up.
Liars are noticeably less cooperative. They are also more likely to complaint, make more negative statements and appear unfriendly to minimize slip ups.
Unwillingness to make or never breaking eye contact is often sign of deceit.
Dilated pupils and a rise in vocal pitch are more common in liars than people who told the truth.
Forced to make up a story on the spot, most speakers will take a beat or two to collect their thoughts. Lies require a quick mental review of what they have told others to avoid inconsistency and to make up new details as needed.
Having someone repeat the story again will enable you to look for inconsistencies to ferret out lies.
Someone who is consciously trying to make you think he’s honest may be lying. For example you may hear the phrase ‘to be honest’ more often than not. Generally, people assume that they will be trusted most of the time. If someone expects otherwise, take a moment to think.
Liars succeed in the area where listeners themselves do not really want to know the truth. So be honest with yourself about what it is you want to hear. A boss may want to believe that a trusted employee didn’t have his hand in the cookie jar. However, does the story make sense?
Their eyes are not fixed upon whom they are speaking to. If the person looks up to the left upper corner of their eye, they are pulling strategy from their right side of the brain, which is the creative side, therefore creating a situation or lying. Looking at the right upper corner of the eye will invoke the left side of the brain which indicates visual recalling.
Stumbling over words without natural fluency.
Changing subjects quickly. A liar will definitely welcome the change and try to maintain the new subject. Their interests are clearly seen. An innocent person will appear confuse and may also try returning to the previous subject.
When someone is comfortable with you while answering your questions, they will move to their comfort positions, eg. tilting their head to one side or the other. When asked a question that they might lie about or feel threatened by, they will straighten or stiffen up, no longer tilting their head.
Q : Are there any drugs or weapons in your car?
A : There shouldn’t be.
Q : Is this your car?
A : Yes.
There are drugs and/or guns/knives in the car. An innocent person in their own car would answer with an emphatic ‘NO’. Unusually much longer responses or too many details may tip you off to their desperation to get you to believe them.
Someone trying to lie may also ‘bridge’ over something they do not want to tell you.
People using um, ah, hmm, before answering questions are trying to think of an answer, that more times than not, is going to be a lie.
Use of long words, painfully correct grammar and the full form of words or phrases that would normally be shortened, suggesting a scripted speech rather than natural conversation.
Physical movements illustrating something being described is a common and natural activity.
Attempting to justify every detail with lengthy explanations.
You can find many discrepancies between a lie and the actions. You may also find mismatches between the tone of voice and expression. Be sensitive to the person’s emotional expression, specifically the timing and duration, which tends to be off when someone is lying. Emotions can be delayed, remain longer than usual, then stop suddenly. Likewise, they might not match appropriately with verbal statements.
On paper. Seeing what someone said in writing is much more effective in detecting lies than listening to them.
If someone who knows what he is going to be asked will surely have prepared himself. The best liars in the world are the most thorough ones. For example, when Bill Clinton looked at those reporters and told them he never had relations ‘with that woman’ and never blinked or gave ANY indication he was lying, he broke the mold.