Detecting Liars

Article in brief: The subconscious part of our minds control everything occurring to us involuntarily. When someone hides the truth, his subconscious mind shows exactly the opposite through his body language. What should you look for to know if the person in front you is lying?

Let’s just assume you ran into a friend who had a frown drawn on his face yet told you that he was very happy? Would you believe him? Of course not, because there is a mismatch between what he is saying and the body signals he sent to you.

Body language is a language of dialogue where two people who speak completely different languages can communicate with one another without many difficulties through each other’s references and facial expressions. It is very important because it helps us differentiate whether the person in front of us is happy, angry, or sad. Most importantly, it helps us discover whether the person we are talking to is telling the truth or just a bunch of lies.

Messages are usually transmitted from a person to his surroundings by his words, voice tone, and body language. Therefore, detecting lies is not that hard when you understand the body language of the person sitting in front of you.

To know whether the person is lying or not, you have to check three main things: His eyes, mouth, and replies.

1. Eyes:

Liars, no matter how good they are, have no ability to make direct eye contact with the person they are lying to because the unconscious parts of the brain tries to prevent the deception happening. Also, according to Neuro-lingustic programming (NLP), each direction their eyes move to is accompanied by a different function in the brain. If the person’s eyes are looking more to the top left, it means that he is inventing an image in his mind, but if they were considered to be looking to the top right it means that they are retrieving a specific image in mind.

1. Mouth:

As an attempt of the mind to accommodate lying, liars usually put their hands over their mouths as if they are trying to prevent it from happening. Nibbling on the lips is also another sign of lying; liars unconsciously bite their lips to prevent themselves from speaking. This indicates that there is an internal conflict between two voices inside of the person: one that says it is better that you be or become silent and another that pushes the person to speak what’s on their minds whether lies or not.

1. Replies:

When asked a question, discomfort and management of the body away from the asker will usually come along with the liar’s reply. Watch for the wily delay in answering your questions: honest answers come quickly from the memory while lies require a quick mental review of things they will utter in order to avoid conflict and invent new details.

If someone shows one of those characteristics while having a conversation with you, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is a liar. His behavior should be compared with his normal state as much as possible. The more you know someone and his way of thinking, the easier it will be for you to detect when he is moving away from reality. Some of the signs mentioned above also coincide with shy people who might not be lying at all.

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• Resource used: http://www.westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap7.html