Detect lies through body language None of us like being lied to or being taken for granted. Personally it hurts but in business it can cause a lot of hardships and cost you a lot of money. Our body is a key aspect that people observe when communicating other than our speech or verbal gestures. Learning to read body languages can help to judge if someone is lying to you with fair chances of accuracy. A survey shows that about 55% of how we communicate depends on our body language. Depending on the context of the person, a simple hand motion or a crossing of the lips can have varied meanings, sometimes positive or negative. A good observant can tell whether a person is telling the truth or shying away from it just from his/her body posture, facial expressions or even through the tone of voice. In a work environment, communication and interactions among staffs and members do not always hold a sense of honesty as one would expect. People often do not tell the truth during interviews, meetings or interrogations. However, such deceiving acts can be caught if one were to carefully monitor a person's behavior and body language. What takes place in the mind in many cases transfers to body movements and postures that mean something, which act as cues whether that person is being honest or not. Here I am going to discuss some of the many body languages that people show when they are being dishonest or lying, with or without being aware of them. Liars usually do not make eye contact or avoid it when they are making a false statement. If a person has been giving you good eye contact throughout the conversation and if he or she starts looking down or away when they reach to the crucial bits, then that might be a hint that the person is not telling the truth. People when lying can seem rigid or fidget and look uncomfortable or make hand to face gestures. They may touch their face, scratch their nose or back of their ear, cover their mouth when speaking or rub the backside of their heads, even pulling on the collar sometimes. These are all self comforting gestures and are common when people are under stress or in this case, lying. (McCullough, S. 2011) Another common signal when people are telling lies is their feet and legs. Most people do not think what their legs and feet from one moment to the next. But when people are standing or even seated when telling a tie, they may often raise themselves up on their heels or dribble their feet up and down. It is important to take note of these gestures and weather the topic being discussed is a crucial one where you think someone would probably lie. How people use their hands while speaking is another signal which shows whether or not they are being honest. While telling the truth people normally speak with their palms open. Open arms and palms while talking normally means the person is being quite honest with you. But when you ask them awkward questions where one would revert to lying or being dishonest, their hand movements change. They may cross their arms, put their hands in their pockets or place them behind their backs. (Eaves, E. 2010) Facial expressions make a big difference when conversing. People usually do not give a genuine smile when telling a lie, even though if it is a good news. People give this kind of fake smiles when taking pictures, talking with strangers or even with friends on topics they are uncomfortable with or not familiar on. A persons eyes while smiling is an important point to take note of. A genuine smile will cause the skin on the corner of your eyes to wrinkle a bit which shows the person is genuinely happy and not faking it. Also, people often nod their heads when speaking the truth or agreeing to someone truthfully. A truthful person generally will nod at the same time he or she makes a statement. While when lying, there can be a slight delay or hesitation for the nod. Moreover, a person who is lying may speak more than natural, trying to add extra made up details to convince you that they are telling the truth. It is common that liars tend to use the same words again and again to try and convince you. (Rubenstein, B. 2010) During interrogations it is best to start off with questions that you already know the answers to, like asking them about their name, age, address and so forth. Some people naturally talk fast whereas some don't. Asking obvious questions will let you know what kind of person they are. Then you can ask the important questions on hand and look for changes in the way the person replies. If they change their tone from calm to agitated or from fast paced speech to a slow stuttering one, then you can be very sure the person is not telling you the truth. (Cherry, K. 2011) However, despite all these observable body languages there are many factors that can make people look like they are lying even though they are telling the truth. Body languages can often be misread. Factors like shyness, embarrassment, awkward situations may cause people to give signs that can misinterpreted as lying. It is also not good to judge or accuse people of lying based just on their body language or facial expressions. It can cause more discomfort and conflict during conversations. But all things aside, it can be helpful to know how to tell or at least guess if people are being honest to you and then take steps accordingly. In business and during interrogations it is vital that people speak the truth. Hence having a keen eye for body languages and gestures can prevent you from being lied to and have honest truthful conversations with people.
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References
• Eaves, E. 2010, Ten Ways to Tell if Someone is Lying to You [Accessed at: July 9, 2013. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/03/detecting-lies-trust-tech_06trust_cx_ee_1103lies.html]
• McCullough, S. 2011, How to Read Body Language to Reveal the Underlying Truth in Almost Any Situation [Accessed at: July 9, 2013. Available at: http://lifehacker.com/5852572/how-to-read-and-utilize-body-language-to-reveal-the-truth-in-almost-any-situation]
• Rubenstein, B. 2010, How to Detect Lies [Accessed at: July 9, 2013. Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Detect-Lies]
• Byers, K. 2012, How to Detect Lies [Accessed at: July 9, 2013. Available at: http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php]
• Cherry, K. 2011, How to Tell if Someone is Lying [Accessed at: July 9, 2013. Available at: http://psychology.about.com/b/2011/05/17/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-lying.htm]