How To Detect Lies & Liars

How to protect yourself from criminals who lie to hurt, cheat or deceive. Not all liars are dangerous but all dangerous people lie

How To Detect Lies & Liars

an you tell when someone is telling a lie? Or, maybe the more appropriate question should be: Can you tell when someone is telling the truth? In a world full of untruths, does anybody really tell the truth anymore? What we are most concerned with, for purposes of this report, are the lies that, unchecked, would have a disasterous effect on the person to whom they are told. It may be in the form of being physically hurt, even killed. Or financial losses that may result from identify theft, forgery or fraud. And the mental or emotional damage that comes with the loss of trust in people. Not all liars are dangerous people, but dangerous people always lie. What is a lie? Websters Dictionary defines lie (noun), as an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive; as a verb, it is to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive. Lies are the diluting, rerouting and rearranging of bits and pieces of language into a form of verbal evasion intended for deception, distortion, or denial of the truth. Lies may be typed into two general categories: lies of commission and lies of omission. Lies of commission are deliberate misstatements of facts; fabrications out of perhaps, a small grain of truth; statements based on nothing at all, except that the speaker wants to deceive. They can also be out and out denials of the truth. Lies of omission are those, which the speaker doesnt say, as opposed to what they say. However, the intent to deceive is present. Sometimes, even silence can be an eloquent lie of omission, when the speaker chooses to hide the truth by not saying anything at all. Max, a sales rep for a large paper company, had been trying to land a new printing company account for months. Hed made numerous sales calls and follow-ups, and as far as he was concerned, his hard work was going to pay off. Indications were that he would soon get his first order from the company.

Thats why, at the weekly sales meeting, he was shocked to hear another sales rep, Lisa, announce that she had landed the account and had written her first order for them. Max immediately spoke up and told her hed been working on getting that account for months. She had replied that she had been completely unaware of that, and that she too had been calling on the printer and had finally gotten a break. The sales manager told Lisa that he did know Max had been calling on the company for some time and that he had never heard her talk about it. To this, Lisa simply repeated that she had, in fact, been calling on the company for a long time too.

Sometimes, even silence can be an eloquent lie of omission, when the speaker chooses to hide the truth by not saying anything at all.

Because they were such a large printer and could represent a huge amount of business, she hadnt wanted to say anything until she knew for sure she had the account. Max was sure Lisa was lying but, at the moment, didnt know how to deal with it. Max left work early that day. There was a trade group meeting that night and he normally attended, but after the days disappointment, he wasnt in the mood for it. On the way home, he stopped by an

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

electronics store because his organizer had given out and he needed a new one. He wanted the exact same brand and model and, when he couldnt find it, he asked a sales clerk. Without looking, the sales clerk told him that they were all out. When Max suggested they might have some in the stock room, the sales clerk emphatically repeated that they didnt have any, then added they would be receiving more in a couple of days. He told Max he would be happy to call him when they came in and took his phone number. When Max arrived home the house was dark and his wife, Jennie, was gone. He went for a short bike ride and then took a shower. He was in the kitchen looking for something to eat when Jennie walked in. She was surprised to see him and said that she thought he had his monthly meeting that night. Max told her about his day and why he wasnt at the meeting. She was wearing a summer dress and had her hair fixed. He told her she looked nice and asked where she had been all dressed up. She replied that she had been visiting her friend, Linda. Theyd had a late lunch together and then just started talking and the time got away from them. After the day hed had, Max couldnt help but feel suspicious.

he hasnt been lied to will also produce a negative consequence. He can do nothing but benefit from knowing whos lying and whos telling the truth. So, who was lying to Max? How can you tell? Why do people lie? Self-preservation is a primary motivation for most lies. People lie to cover up or deny something they did, or are about to do, which they know is wrong. The fact is we are taught to lie at an early age We learned, as children, that people tell lies without so much as blinking an eye. We also learned how to fabricate them ourselves, but it was alright because we were being creative and imaginative. We found out that sometimes it was good to tell a lie, and sometimes, not. But where were we supposed to draw the line? And how did we know when we had crossed it?

Selfpreservation is a primary motivation for most lies. We live and breathe lies every moment of the day.

Max has been lied to. More than once during the day, someone has not told him the truth. Its important for Max to be able to know who was lying to him. Without exception, in every instance where he lets the lie go or believes it, there will be a negative impact on his life. Conversely, not knowing that

Mom is dead tired after a very long day at her job in the supermarket. She tells little Joey, If uncle Tim calls, tell him Im not home. So, when Uncle Tim calls and little Joey tells him that mommy isnt home, is that acceptable? Mommy had asked him to lie, and for a good reason. Is this just a little lie that doesnt do anybody any harm, or, is it another lesson-learned for Joey that he could use later in life? We could go on and on with examples like these til kingdom come and never want for more. The truth that we must face is this: we are a society of liars, raised in a culture of lies. There are white lies,

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

half lies, subtle lies, blatant lies, lies to make us feel good, lies to make us feel bad. There are lies designed to offend, lies designed to defend, lies told to us, and lies told by us. We live and breathe lies every moment of the day. We are bombarded with them everywhere we turn. The media will take a small grain of truth and blow it up so cleverly that we believe them enough to shell out hard-earned dollars. Can we, as a social group of gullible human beings expect people not to lie? The answer is: we cant and we dont. The best thing we could hope for is to be able to tell when people are lying to us. As we mature, we develop a benefit versus consequences scale. The decision whether to lie or not is based upon the individuals assessment of whether the benefits of telling the truth outweigh the consequences that will result from telling a lie. The fear of consequences typically falls into one or more of these areas: 1. Fear of loss of esteem. 2. Fear of prosecution or punishment. 3. Fear of embarrassment. 4. Fear of restitution. 5. Fear for their own physical safety. People also lie out of embarrassment. They may be ashamed of some condition or predicament in their life, so when asked about it, they lie. And finally, people do actually lie out of kindness or to be polite. When most people are asked how they are, they answer fine or good, even though the truth may be far from that. When a wife asks her husband if he likes her new dress and he says great even though he hates it. Even though these are lies in an absolute sense, theyre considered acceptable because they do no real harm to the person they are told to. They are lies designed to keep the peace. Why do criminals or other types of dangerous people lie?

Quite simply, criminals lie because they have something to hide, either because of what they have already done, or what they are about to do. Lying may also be used to lull an innocent person into a false sense of security, first, before the criminal acts. With careful use of language a liar can distract your attention away from his real intentions. A person is a danger to society when his sense of right and wrong is askew. It makes no difference whether the person is a murderer, armed robber, child molester, or simply a troublemaker. He believes and lives by different rules from yours and mine. Often, his sense of who he is, is defined by the hateful things that he does. Some experts are convinced that some people are born with the inherent tendency to criminal behavior. But whatever the reasons, dangerous people do lie. Spotting lies can be a valuable early warning signal to us that trouble may be brewing. For most people, even experienced criminals, lying can be uncomfortable or difficult, so they will often tell a partial truth. Theyd rather lie by omission, not commission. Manipulating words to deceive. There were rumors circulating that singer Whitney Houston and her husband were using illegal drugs. When she was asked by a reporter if it was true, she got angry and said, I am not a drug addict. If I were an addict it would adversely affect my performance on stage. Therefore, as you can see, I am not a drug addict. The point here is that she was not accused of being a drug addict, only of the occasional recreational use of an illegal substance. She got angry, over-reacted and did not answer the real question. All things being equal, most people would really rather tell the truth, and if they must lie, they will disguise the lies with carefully evasive words, or just plain outright fabrications. For better or worse, we live in a world of deception. There are as many motives to lie, as there are lies in the world. And like it or not, at times youre going

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

to be lied to; that much is a certainty. If lies had no effect on your life, it probably wouldnt matter whether or not you knew if someone was lying to you. However, this is not the case. Just like Max, every time we are deceived, regardless of the nature of the deception, we are losing something. Our happiness, effectiveness and success, in business and in our personal lives, are determined by the decisions we make. We all make decisions about what actions to take and when and how to

we stand to lose a great deal when we constantly make bad decisions. Not being able to tell when someone is lying to you, and not being able to find out what the truth is can cost us financially, career-wise, even our lives. We cant overlook the safety risks associated with being lied to. While such risks may be indirect or rare, they are there. There are more dangerous criminals on the streets today than ever before. You may be working alongside them, interviewing them for a job or hiring them to work on your house and not even know it. For this reason alone, its worth remembering that, Not all liars are criminals, but all criminals will lie to you. It pays to be able to tell what the truth is. In the business world we know that approximately 7% of all job applicants have a criminal record and the majority of them lie about it. About 8% give a phony Social Security number to conceal their true identity, about 17% have filed a fraudulent workmens compensation claim, and over 30% lie about their education or prior employment. By comparison business people get off easy. Kids lie to their parents. Parents lie to their kids. Adults lie to each other. Now not all lies are harmful. A husband who tells his wife how great she looks in that new dress (when he doesnt really like it) is not being a bad person. Hes just trying to make his wife feel good about herself. But those are not the type of lies we are going to discuss in this report. For most people, being able to detect lies and get to the truth has more practical applications in everyday life. The first rule is when it comes to detecting lies and uncovering the truth, there are no ironclad rules. Due to the complexity of human relationships, cultural differences, personal characteristics no one factor will determine whether or not a person is lying. Early detection As with many areas of life, when dealing with liars, the best offense is a good defense. You can save

Not being able to tell when someone is lying to you, and not being able to find out what the truth is can cost us financially, career-wise, even our lives.

take them, based on information. The decisions we make are only as good as the information we base them on. Sometimes our information comes from impersonal sources such as reports, books or the media, but often times it comes from personal contact with friends, family and colleagues. If someone lies to us and we believe him and make a decision or take an action based on believing what they have told us, we are going to be making a bad decision. And while it is true that many decisions have relatively minor consequences, cumulatively

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

yourself a lot of aggravation by determining early on who is most likely to be dishonest with you. This amounts to being able to read people and is not as difficult or mysterious as it may seem. It is a skill that can be learned and becomes sharper when practiced consistently. Weve all had bad experiences in which people were dishonest with us. Weve all experienced the revelation of 20/20 hindsight. I should have seen it coming. Looking back, it was so obvious. Statements like these are proof that we failed to see the signs that would have helped us avoid an unpleasant episode in our lives. How do you develop the skill of reading people? Here are six general guidelines which can help you. First and foremost, spend more time with people. Increasingly, we conduct our lives in a very non-personal manner. Phones, faxes and e-mail all have made it not only possible but often preferred to communicate through technology instead of in person. To be able to make accurate assessments about peoples behavior, you have to spend more time interacting with them.

to break the ice. Its the lost art of conversation and you have to be willing to initiate it. Once you do, it is only natural for you to ask the other person something about himself. From that point on its simply a matter of conversation. Fourth, you have to be objective. If your state of mind is one of need, fear, defensiveness or if you are emotionally involved in some way with the other person, you must work to overcome that. Establish an objective state of mind, be conscious of it and work to maintain it. Fifth, as part of being objective, you have to start from scratch. Be aware of any bias or preconceived notions you may have and work to eliminate them.

...you have to be willing to break the ice. Its the lost art of conversation and you have to be willing to initiate it.

Second, you need to be a good observer. Stop, look and listen and, above all, be patient. Few people reveal themselves quickly to others and you should be wary of those who do. Third, you have to be willing to reveal something about yourself first. It doesnt have to be an intimate detail of your life. Again, most people are uncomfortable with that behavior anyway. But you have to be willing

What you want to look for is patterns in peoples behavior. Later we will refer to this as establishing a baseline for that person. Look for striking traits and characteristics, but make sure you consider them in context of the circumstances. Then look for extremes or deviations from the pattern. When you find them, ask whether or not they are temporary or permanent. Is it a phase the person is going through or does it seem indicative of a permanent condition? Ask yourself if the traits are elective or permanent. A persons appearance can give many clues as to their character. Look at their clothing, hair, jewelry, make-up and hygiene. Of course, you always have to consider these things in the proper perspective. Someone who dresses poorly may not be bad or dishonest, clothing may just not be a priority in their life. Someone who wears an excessive amount of

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

jewelry may be very outgoing or they may be very insecure. Also, pay attention to the way a person speaks, including the words they use, how fast they talk and the tone and quality of their voice. Typical attitudes displayed by people being questioned about some fear-provoking incident: Those who are truthful Calm Relaxed Cooperative Concerned Sincere Certain, sure-footed

Youre looking for what is normal or typical for that person. Then you want to determine what, if any, deviations from that norm they exhibit. Deviations indicate that something is amiss and are a warning flag. They should serve to heighten your awareness of the persons actions and words and not give in to blind trust. In learning to be observant think of yourself as a detective, looking for every detail and clue you can get from someone. Make a game out of it. Make it fun and you will soon find practicing it to be second nature. When it comes to people who lie, basically there are four frequently used categories for them: Occasional liars, frequent liars, habitual liars and professional liars. Occasional liars are the easiest to spot through verbal and non-verbal clues. They are not comfortable lying and this will reveal itself. Because of this, they tend to think their lies through and will seldom lie about something that could be verified through others. Frequent liars are still uncomfortable with lying but are just more used to doing it. As a result, the verbal and non-frequent liars are still uncomfortable with lying but are just more used to doing it. As a result, the verbal and non-verbal clues will be subtle. They tend to be sloppy when it comes to thinking their lies through and can often be revealed by looking closely at the internal consistency and logic of their statements. Habitual liars dont care. It doesnt bother them to lie and hence they give fewer observable clues. However, their lies are generally fraught with inconsistencies. Professional liars lie for a purpose. Even though they are relatively rare, they are practiced and polished and the only way to detect them is through verifying their story with independent sources. No single behavior by itself proves anything.

Untruthful Impatient Tense Defensive Outwardly unconcerned Overly friendly, polite or cooperative Uncertain

Attitudes common to untruthful people Nervous Angry Quiet

The most important thing to remember when you begin practicing your observation of others is that you cannot draw a conclusion based on any single thing.

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

You must first be able to determine what is normal for each person. In interrogation training for law enforcement, this is referred to as baseline behavior. Once you establish what is normal or baseline for each individual, you can then look for changes or deviations in that behavior. Because no single behavior by itself proves anything, you then need to look for clusters or patterns of deviation from the baseline norm. Ask yourself, What subjects or questions appear to cause the persons behavior to change? That being said, there are some types of behavior, which studies and experience have shown to most likely be signs of someone reacting to the stress that occurs when they tell a lie. These classic symptoms are generally accepted as deviations from normal non-stressed behavior. A trail of clues... Inevitably lies leave clues. These clues are caused by stress. Unless someone is a complete psychopath or a professional liar, lying is stressful for him. Even habitual liars feel stress when they are lying. The reason for this is as old as mankind. Every authoritative source on lying and lie detection agrees on one thing: A person lies because he feels threatened and is trying to survive. Just as with a physical threat to our person or property that instinctive fight or flight mode takes over, even though the threat is verbal and not physical. Blood pressure goes up, the heart rate increases and breathing goes out of sync. These conditions are caused by and are signs of stress. And they are beyond our ability to control. Mechanical lie detectors work based on their ability to electronically sense these signs of stress. Even though the stress signs of lying may be a good deal more subtle than an attack from a wild animal, the fact is they are there and with training and practice, they can be detected using only your

When numerous stress signs become evident the lie will reveal itself.

senses. No matter how hard they try, a person experiencing this kind of stress will not be able to hide it completely. They may be able to control some of the manifestations the stress of lying creates, but they wont be able to contain them all. When numerous stress signs become evident the lie will reveal itself. There are exceptions to using observable signs of stress as indicators of a lie. Specifically, children, the mentally challenged, psychotics and sociopaths, and those under the influence of drugs or alcohol may not give clues which can be reliably interpreted. When someone is lying they will usually be in one of five emotional states when responding: Anger. Depression. Denial. Bargaining. Acceptance.

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

Anger, depression, denial and bargaining are all classified as negative emotional states. When a person responds to questioning with anger he is mentally shutting down his mind to questions. Depression is anger turned inward and, again, they will resist telling you anything. Denial is the most common stress-response state. Over 90% of deceptive behavior is denial. However, it can often be worked through with the right approach. Bargaining, while still a negative emotional state, is a transition stage on the way to acceptance. Acceptance is a positive emotional state in which the person who has lied to you will, at last, tell you the truth. Much of what we know about detecting lies comes from law enforcement. They give a lot of attention to these stress-response states during the interview and/or interrogation process.

Verbal clues are what the person says, the way they say it, the words and grammar they use. Nonverbal clues are those which manifest themselves physically and can be observed in a persons body language. Determining Lies Much of your ability to find out if someone is lying to you will depend on your relationship with that person and the setting in which the exchange you have takes place. For example, if a co-worker tells you something over a drink after hours and you question the validity of what was said, your approach to finding out the truth will be different than if you were the persons boss and you were questioning them at work. The context of the situation (work, social event, at home, in public), your relationship to the person (stranger, coworker, spouse, friend, child) and how long youve known them must all be considered. These factors will determine the rapport you have with the person, which will in turn determine your tone and approach to them. Most importantly it will determine how quickly and accurately you are able to establish the persons behavioral baseline.

For most of us, the process of finding out if were being lied to is more of an interview process than an interrogation scenario. However, some of the same principles and techniques can be applied. They are especially useful in situations where you have the authority to pursue the truth about an incident or statement, as in an employeremployee, or a parent-sibling relationship.

Denial is the most common stress-response state. Over 90% of deceptive behavior is denial.
Questioning a Liar

With the general clues to lies being signs of stress, there are two categories into which those signs fall. Several different terms have been given to these categories, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics among them, but it is simplest just to view them as either verbal or non-verbal clues.

It makes no difference whether the person you are about to question is a spouse, child, best friend, employee or total stranger, you always want to try to make the person comfortable. Take the attitude of being curious to know what really happened. Quick accusations generally incite denial or

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confrontation and you will be at an impasse. Its often more productive to try to extract as much information as you can before directly confronting the person. Determining whether youre being lied to involves some strategy. Once youve established a persons baseline behavior, the strategy is to find a question or comment which causes them to deviate from that baseline behavior. You want to find out which buttons you need to push. Once you find out what causes the person to exhibit stress, you can pursue a direction with the conversation that will give you more clues, and ultimately, a confirmation of what you want to know. Preparing for the interview. The guilty person is afraid of being caught and punished. Putting the subject at ease is the first step in setting up the interview. You want to put forth an image of being friendly, curious, flexible, and yes, sympathetic. In other words you want to build a rapport by being an active listener. Showing patience, acceptance, even detachment gets you and the subject on the same side, so to speak. Especially in the early part of an interview, you must avoid direct accusations. Unless, of course, you have physical evidence to present that is so compelling that a confession is all but inevitable. Presenting the questions. Generally, there are two types of questions used in interviews: closed questions and open questions. Closed questions are specific and typically limit the number of possible responses to Yes or No. They work best when you need or want to tightly control the interview, or where the subject is reluctant to give detailed responses. Probing too soon with closed questions makes it more difficult to build a rapport with the subject. It also tends to allow the subject to take a position and get locked into a lie, rather than giving him an opportunity to reveal important information that may prove useful later

on. Open questions cannot be answered with a Yes or No. These questions require the subject to think clearly. And even though they may create more stress for the interviewee, the also reveal the greatest amount of information. Most open questions ask who, where, when, what, why or how. Open questions help you accomplish several goals: Discover the subjects priorities, attitudes, needs, values, etc. Allow the subject to express his viewpoints. Establish rapport. Engage in active listening and give the subject recognition. Allow the subject to reveal facts without feeling directly threatened. Criminal investigators learn to use the open-ended question to elicit information from a suspect. And, at the same time, the open-ended question tends to avoid words that threaten the subject with pain or punishment. If you ask a subject the following question: Did you steal the money from the cash register? The subject is going to be defensive, volunteer little information, and lose rapport with the interviewer because of the nature of the question. On the other hand, if you ask an open-ended question such as: Fred, last night someone removed a small amount of cash from the register. I am sure they had a good reason to take the money, and they probably intended to return the money the next day. You were on duty last night, can you tell me everything you can remember about what you saw last night? Now take your time, think back to about 8:30 PM, and try to remember what you saw. This type of open-question allows the subject to reveal information that he didnt intend to reveal. And, because he is under stress, he will never be able to remember all the lies he has told. So

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

after the subject finishes telling his story, you can question bits and pieces. You can reverse the order in which he gave you the information. He started the story about 8 PM and went until 9:30 PM, so you either begin questioning him in the middle, or start at the end and work backwards. If he is lying, he will lose control of his story. Verbal Clues In examining each area of the lying phenomena, it is worth repeating the cardinal rule of lie detection: No one word, action or behavior, by itself, proves anything. You must look for cumulative clues and you must view them in context of the situation. That being said, there are some verbal clues that may be considered strong indicators that someone is lying to you. Pitch, Volume, and Rate of Speech The presence of stress in a subject can be revealed by a change in the pitch of the voice. This is why its important to begin the interview in an atmosphere that is as calm and relaxed as possible. For most

people, the pitch of the voice will rise when they are under stress. Another sign of tension is a change in the volume of the voice. The tendency is for the volume to increase under stress. However, for some people, when tension is coupled with guilt, the volume of voice tends to drop. When a person is confronted with questions they have anticipated, normally their rate of speech will speed up. Thats because he has rehearsed his alibi and he is anxious to prove his innocence by getting the answers out as quickly as possible. Also, because the answers have been mentally rehearsed, there is no need to think about the questions before answering. Lies are verbal actions in that they are spoken. The person is looking for the least anxiety-producing way of escape from having to deal with the truth. Lies have been compared to an iceberg - there will be bits of truth in what is said, but the bulk of what exists is being kept hidden from you. In law enforcement, improved questioning and interrogation techniques, along with behavioral psychology and extensive real-life experience has resulted in being able to identify many predictive indicators of lies. In the case of pure fabrications, the truth usually presents itself easily and quickly. Made up stories usually dont have a lot of details. If you ask for details, the person will probably have to pause before answering or answer awkwardly. The liar will often use your words to make a point and may keep adding more information to try to sell you his story. They may stonewall with their answers or make a classic Freudian slip. In cases where someone is being questioned about a specific incident of wrongdoing, there are some general indicators of deceit: A liar may try to diffuse the situation by making light of it through humor or sarcasm. He will have the answers to many questions down pat, almost rehearsed.

A liar may try to diffuse the situation by making light of it through humor or sarcasm.

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

He will stall by asking you to repeat a question or by answering a question with a question. He seems to relax when the subject is changed or casually try to slip things through during the conversation. Numbers relating to facts will often be similar or multiples of each other. He will talk about others doing similar things (This is the thats nothing compared to what Joe did scenario.) Or he may come up with a story that is simply too implausible to ever be believed. Because a person under the stress of telling a lie will usually go into one of the five stress-response states, you can look for the state to manifest itself with a type of verbal response. Anger can be either focused or covert.

subject tells you these symptoms are a direct result of, or associated with the crime, crisis event or problem in which the person is being questioned. Of the five stress-response states, denial is the most common. Over 90% of deceptive behavior will be in the form of denial. Memory lapses are a form of denial. Deceptive people are more prone to claim memory failure than truthful people. Verbally, theyre prone to use words and expressions such as: I cant remember, Really, Honestly, To tell the truth, Frankly, Truthfully speaking, To the best knowledge. of my

If anger is focused, the person being questioned will verbally attack the one asking the question. Signs of covert anger are complaining, belittling, arrogance, and making issues out of non-issues. In either case, when a person starts reacting this way it is safe to draw the conclusion that something youve asked them has created a stress-response reaction. Depressed subjects will talk about all forms of physical ailments that they suffer from such as headaches or even chest pain. They may complain about a stiff neck, tell you about a lack of appetite and their inability to sleep. The key to identifying these types of comments as depression is if the

...Why would I take the money and then come in to work today?

They commonly use weighted expressions such as By the way, and Incidentally. They use modifying statements to try to subtly qualify their answers: Ordinarily, Most of the time, Generally, Basically and Sometimes. You should also be aware of blocking statements and bridging statements. An example of a blocking statement is when a person says something like: Why would I take the money and then come in to work today? or If I was having an affair, dont you think I would hide it better? A bridging statement is something like I had just opened the store when the next thing I knew,

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some guy ran in and held me up. These types of statements are obviously meant to give the questioner the appearance that the person is being forthright when, in fact, they are often indicators of deception. Of course, it is important that you first establish what words, phrases and speech patterns are normal for the person in question. You always want to look for things which fall outside of that baseline. When someone is in a bargaining state of stressresponse, the tendency is for them to make religious statements such as, I swear to God, or personal moral statements like, Im a law-abiding citizen. I dont even have a traffic ticket. They also are often overly courteous and may resort to name dropping or trying to intimidate you by impressing upon you how important they are. Complaining may also be a noticeable trait with a person in a bargaining state, and it is typically used as a means of interrupting the focus of the exchange. The last possible stress-response state is one of acceptance and the verbal clues to it are quite obvious. The person will usually make either a buy-out statement such as Id be willing to do this if you just ..., a fantasy-reality statement like I dont remember, but if you say so or they will make some kind of an inquiry as to the nature of the punishment for the offense. When someone demonstrates an acceptance stress-response state, they are admitting to the deception they are accused or suspected of. Its important when you recognize this condition to let them do most of the talking and become a good listener. In addition to verbal clues, which are related to the five stress-response-states, you should also be aware that there are some general verbal evasions, which have been shown to be strong indicators that someone is lying, regardless of their stressresponse-state. These include statements such as: Thats about it, Thats hard to say, I beg your pardon, You have no proof of that, Are you accusing me?, The answer is no, Are you asking me that?.

Along with these phrases, a deceptive person will frequently voice objections to the questions asked or statements made. Also watch to see if they answer without what would be an appropriate pause to reflect, or if they respond with a question, answer with a rambling dissertation or make a classic Freudian slip such as, I would always take your car before asking instead of I would always ask before taking your car. Deceptive people demonstrate more speech dysfunctions than individuals not under stress. Speech dysfunction occurs because the person is being hit with relevant questions and does not have a clear thought line You should also be aware of a persons grammar. Listen for passive (as opposed to active) verbal statements, conditionally phrased verbal statements and changes in verb tense from past to present. An active verbal statement is something like, I counted out the register and noticed no discrepancies. In a passive form, this statement would be The front register was counted out by me and no discrepancies were noticed. Using the passive form, the person is attempting to distance himself from the action. Suppose you ask someone, What did you do after work last night? If they answer with something like, I would stop by and pick up my mail, go to the store and then go home, they are giving a conditionally phrased verbal response. They are answering in a way that says this is probably what they normally do, making it conditional. An example of a change in verb tense is, I was walking to my car. Its dark. I cant see. And suddenly, someone grabbed the bank bag and ran. All of these verbal inconsistencies are indications of possible deception. Here are ten ways to lie without really lying. Evasive responses are an easy way to not deal

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with the truth without actually fabricating false information, which can be challenged at a later time. Here are ten examples with a brief explanation. 1. Unfinished business: Phrases such as Thats about it, thats about the size of it, I guess thats about all, are an admission that there is more information concerning the topic which the person has not divulged. 2. I cant is an admission that information to a question simply cannot be given. 3. Hypothetically structured phrases: The person uses conditional verbs like could, would, should, or ought to preface his response. For example: I would not say, or, I should not say. 4. Thats a hard question: An admission that the person does not like the question, or that it is too painful for him to answer the question. 5. Objection: Like the lawyer who stands up in court and says Objection, your honor this type of response is used when a person finds a question too sensitive. For example, you ask a subject if he stole $5,000 from the company safe and he answers with, Im not the kind of person who would do anything like that. 6. Non-reflective denial of knowledge: When the subject is asked a question, it is normal for him to pause for reflection before answering the question. Any denial without pause for reflection is an indication the question was anticipated and the answer rehearsed. 7. Offended Dignity: A subject is asked, Did you steal the missing computer equipment? He responds with, I am the manager. How dare you ask me a question like that? He simply evaded the question. 8. Answers a question with a question: Do you know who stole the money from the safe? He says, How should I know that? How could I know? How would I know? 9. Rambling Dissertation: The persons verbal

response contains information called for in the question, in addition the subject supplies much more information than is necessary to adequately answer the question. 10. The answer does not relate to the question: For example, you ask the subject, Did you have a gun on you when you walked into the store? He replies, I dont even like guns and wouldnt have anything to do with one. While evasive techniques are not a guarantee the person is lying, they indicate the person is under a great deal of stress. That leads to the question of why do they feel so much stress in answering questions if they have nothing to hide and the answers will not get them into trouble. Another important verbal clue to be aware of is the quality of the voice. The voice reflects the emotional state as well as

Rambling Dissertation: The persons verbal response contains information called for in the question, in addition to the subject , supplies much more information than is necessary to adequately answer the question.

the strength and depth of the emotion on both an audible and a subconscious level. Again, the watchword here is deviation from what is the norm for the person in question.

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How To Detect Lies & Liars

Does their voice always shake when they get emotional? Are they naturally a nervous type person? Does their voice sound strained and tight or relaxed? Does the pitch of the voice change when asked about a particular subject? The accepted school of thought is that voice quality characteristics should not be considered as indicators of deception however, they are important elements in the overall picture you are trying to create about a person you suspect may be lying to you. In assessing your verbal clues, be aware that there are some things which may cause you to misread what you are hearing. In the terminology of interrogation, these are referred to as interview contaminants. They are such things as: Hearing problems, outside distractions, a non-native English speaker, a language dysfunction, the persons mental state (sanity), the wording of the questions and your manner toward the other person.

you ask questions. When a person memorized a lie its very difficult to begin reversing the order of the story. You can skip to the middle of the story, go to the beginning, then to the end and then back to the middle of the story. Only a liar with a photographic memory can likely handle that kind of pressure. Watch for signs of stress under this kind of questioning. Non-verbal Clues Non-verbal clues consist of signals commonly referred to as body language. Because they are observable physical actions, there is often more curiosity about them than there is for verbal clues. It has been estimated that approximately 65% of what humans communicate is done so through body language, with the remaining 7% being verbal, 12% voice quality and 16% miscellaneous signals such as chemical changes, odors and other subtleties.

One reason that most liars get caught is that to be a good liar you must have a fabulous memory. And the more complicated the lie the more difficult it is to remember. Investigators know this well. So when theyre interviewing or interrogating a subject, they begin by asking the person to tell them in their own words what happened or what they know about a situation.

only a liar with a photographic memory can likely handle that kind of pressure.

Most lies go in a straight line. So, in questioning someone, after youve let them tell their story, you go to the end and start working backwards as

This analysis is easily explained by the fact that people are better able to control their verbal signals than they are the non-verbal ones. Therefore, they generate a lot more body language clues than verbal ones. Much of the body language clues are generated subconsciously. When a person is in a stressproducing situation, they are experiencing emotions and emotions are virtually impossible to repress. They may be able to carefully measure their words and statements, but signs of their stress will come to the surface in the form of body language. However, while body language clues are plentiful and visually evident, they do not have the same

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value individually as verbal clues do. That is why body language is best considered a method of confirmation of the signals being generated verbally. You should look at them in this context. Listen to what the verbal clues are telling you in conjunction with the physical actions you are able to visually observe. As with verbal clues, you want to know what the persons baseline of behavior is before considering what his body language means. You find this out by either being well acquainted with the person or by engaging them in comfortable, general conversation before touching on the subject you want to measure for truth. In addition to being able to spot deviations from the persons normal behavior, you also need to consider the timing of the body language clues. The gestures should fit the speech. Anything thats out of sync is an indication that the person is feeling stress about whatever they are talking about. Watch how a person sits in their chair. When possible, before interviewing a person, its a good idea to arrange two chairs in such a way that the chairs are facing each other and about three to four feet apart. Invite the subject to have a seat. The truthful person will, without hesitation, sit down in the chair offered to him. The guilty person will walk to their chair and, if possible, move it. They will likely move the chair away from you. This helps reduce some of the stress he feels. Second, they will change the alignment of the chairs so they no longer face you directly. If the chair cannot be moved easily, the subject will sit facing off the right or left. Again, these actions help relieve stress by allowing the subject to turn away from you when the questioning gets too stressful. Posture is important. The truthful person tends to exhibit good posture during an interview. It has been ingrained in us by our parents who kept telling us to sit straight, look them in the

eye and always tell the truth. The truthful person automatically (subconsciously) sits in an upright position with their shoulders squared and parallel to the shoulders of the interviewer. They are relaxed and keep their arms loose and away from the body. Imagine a small cone starting at the subjects waist and moving up to encompass his shoulders. The truthful person generally will stay within this imaginary cone. The untruthful person is uncomfortable and fears detection. He will often attempt to take a defensive posture that makes him feel more comfortable and conceals vulnerable parts of the body. Keep in mind that the subconscious mind reacts the same way to threats, whether they are physical or psychological. The same fight or flight reaction occurs under stress and much the same physical responses occur. When a person is threatened the abdominal region tends to tense up. The untruthful person tends to position his shoulders in a way that minimizes his exposure, much in the same way he would prepare to defend against a physical assault. The untruthful person often assumes a slumping position, extending their feet and legs toward the interviewer. The goal is to put a greater distance and obstacles between themselves and the interviewer. The guilty person is prone to perspire excessively, particularly in the area of the trunk of the body. He may also show signs of significant changes in respiration. Most people breathe between eighteen and twenty-two cycles per minute. About one third of the time the guilty person increases respiration rapidly, almost taking on a panting, labored look. More commonly, the guilty persons respiration pattern tends to slow and become shallow or irregular. Taking a deep breathe periodically during the course of the interview may highlight such irregularity. The main thing is to watch the subjects breathing pattern to look for changes throughout the interview.

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Changes in the pattern will coincide with high stress. There are four areas of the body which are considered the primary gauges for reading body language clues. You can remember them by the word HEAL: Head, Eyes, Arms and Legs. HEAD The first thing to try and discern from a persons head movement is whether or not they are listening to you. If they tilt their head slightly it probably means they are listening to you. If they dont tilt or change the angle of their head, it may indicate that

Other things to observe about a persons head include their facial color. The face and sides of the neck may turn white when someone is being deceptive. The condition is obviously caused by a draining of blood from the head. A red face may also indicate stress and deception. However, it can also be the result of honest uneasiness or embarrassment over the whole situation. Facial expressions can be telling of anger, by a cold, hard stare, or suppression with the display of a stone face. Any type of facial tic or twitch indicates stress. Just be sure that it is not part of the persons normal condition. It is a little-known fact but the nose is the most stress-sensitive body part. Itching, touching, pinching - all are indications of stress. Everyone touches parts of their head to varying degrees, but generally, people who are being deceptive tend to have more touches to their head than those who are being truthful. When observing a persons mouth be aware of false smiles. While they are hard to describe, we all know one when we see it. Yawning may be a sign of stress as it can be the result of a lack of oxygen in the blood and an increased metabolic rate. It can also signal fatigue, drowsiness or boredom. When yawning is being used deceptively, it will appear regularly during the conversation and seem excessive. In this case it is probably being used as a stalling technique. You should also be conscious of gulping or frequent swallowing or a dry mouth or lips. The latter can often be observed audibly by sounds the person makes while speaking. White substance at the corners of the mouth and biting lips are also signs of stress. Any obstruction of speech, physical or symbolic, is a sign of stress and possible deception. These include a hand or fingers over the mouth and chewing or biting objects. If a persons physical expressions are limited to the mouth area, it may

It is a little-known fact but the nose is the most stress-sensitive body part. Itching, touching, pinching- all are indications of stress.

they are either not interested or angry. Either condition is going to make having a productive communication with them more difficult. If the persons head sinks to their chest, it may mean that they are either in the emotional state of depression or acceptance. When the head is down but the eyes are up, it is most likely a sign of anger.

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be a sign that they are consciously trying to control their other bodily movements so as not to give themselves away. EYES The level of eye contact a person engages in will vary. Such factors as culture, age and personality (introvert / extrovert) all affect this area of a persons body language. Again, determine what the persons normal pattern of eye contact is and then look for changes from that. Any break in the normal level of eye contact, and which comes well timed with the subject matter of the conversation, is a sign of stress. Extended eye contact can either mean the person is angry or theyre ready to bargain. Eyes rolling back or dropping can mean acceptance or confession. Other signs of stress are constricted pupils and too much white of the eyes showing. Blinking tends to increase with stress and no blinking indicates the person is having an internal conversation with himself.

Neurolinguistics: Heres an interesting experiment you can try that will prove the importance of studying eye movements. Ask someone you know to answer the following questions: 1. What was the color of the first car you ever purchased? 2. What would the offspring of an elephant and zebra look like? 3. Who was the first person to spoke to you after you left home this morning? 4. What was the first thing that person said to you this morning? 5. How would it feel to sit in a tub of warm Jell-O? In response to the first question, he probably looked up to the left, recalling the color of that first car he bought. This response would be typical for approximately 90% of the population. In most instances, when we recall something visually that we have actually experienced, the eyes go up and to the left.

In most instances, when we recall something visually that we have actually experienced, the eyes go up and to the left

When the eyebrows form a V-shape, it is likely the person is angry. If they are raised and the persons mouth is open, they are probably shocked. If only one eyebrow is raised, they are skeptical of what you are saying. A furrowed brow, pulling toward each other over the bridge of the nose, is indicative of pain or depression.

When we are recalling something we heard, the eyes move to the left and straight across. In cases where we are creating visually, the eyes will move up and to the right. So in answering the question about the elephant and zebra, the eyes should move up and to the right. The same eye movement occurs when we are trying to create a sound in our mind. In answering question 5, if they have sat in a tub

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of warm Jell-O, their eyes will move down and to the left. For those of us who have never had the pleasure of sitting in Jell-O, we have to create that feeling. That means our eyes will move down and to the right. Just remember it this way. If we are remembering something we saw, heard or felt, our eyes move to the left: up for what we saw, straight for things weve heard and down for those things weve touched or felt. If we are trying to create the answer, our eyes move to the right: up for something we say we saw, straight for things we say we heard, and down for things we say we have felt or touched. Keep this in mind. A left-handed person is likely to have eye movements that go in reverse to what we have described above. Thats why its important to observe an individual while they are relaxed and not under any stress and study the movement of their eyes. ARMS When talking about the body language of the arms, we are talking about both the arms and the shoulders. The first thing to look for is how the persons shoulders are positioned. A person who is attempting to deceive you generally will not want to face you squarely. Consequently, one shoulder will be uneven or turned away from you, many times toward a door or window. Such a position not only indicates deception but also uncooperativeness. A shrug can mean they dont know or dont care. However, if its fleeting or partial, the person may be feigning casualness, which is a sign of deception. Shoulders that are dropped or rolled forward may indicate depression, or that the person is ready to confess. If they are too rigid and straight, with a stiff back and neck, they are most likely showing defiance. Elbows, which are held loosely away from the body, are a sign of being relaxed. Held tight and close, they are a sign of defensiveness. Arms held close to the body but not outstretched are

interpreted as holding something in. Crossed arms are generally interpreted as a more pronounced degree of trying to distance himself from the other person. When a persons arms are crossed with their fists clenched underneath, they are displaying anger. The higher crossed arms are held, the greater the degree of defiance. When a person hugs himself tightly, they are showing signs of depression. Note that a person may also cross their arms for a variety of perfectly legitimate reasons. They may be cold, have lower back problems or be very shy. Crossing the arms while displaying the thumbs is a sign of arrogance. People will tend to move or use their hands more in times of stress. Studies have shown an interesting correlation between verbal skills and the use of hands in conversation. Those at the high and low end of the verbal skill spectrum tend to use their hands more. You should also be aware of the person touching himself during the exchange. As stated earlier, the number of head and face touches tend to be higher than normal for people who are trying to deceive. Steepling the hands - resting the hands out in front and lightly touching the fingertips together - is a sign that the person is trying to establish superiority. Touching the person theyre talking to is interpreted as a sign that they are trying to either bond or dominate the person questioning them. LEGS Crossed legs, like crossed arms, are generally seen as an attempt to put a barrier between themselves and you. Likewise, a person attempting to deceive you will often turn so that their legs are actually sideways to you. There are also several classic sitting positions the deceitful will use. Leaning forward with both elbows resting on the thighs and the hands clasped in front is referred to as the liars lean. The jailbird seat is also leaning forward, but without the elbows all the way down on the knees. These are the basics of body language as they relate

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they are able to mask it. It may only exist for a split second, but with careful observation, it can often be detected. Getting to the truth. If you suspect that someone is lying to you, or you want to find out the truth about some action or deed that has taken place, you are going to have to interact with the people involved. At the risk of over-simplifying this process, one thing to keep in mind is that guilty people will usually become defensive and innocent people will go on the offensive. However, you may get no further than these defensive or offensive modes if you make the situation confrontational too soon. It is usually best to employ a strategy for being able to verify in your own mind the guilt or innocence of someone. There are many ways to do this. The important thing to remember about all of them is that the goal is to extract information. Dont accuse - allude. One strategy is to allude to the question you want to ask. Look to see if the person starts adding more information than you asked for. Or you can frame the question as a problem youve heard of, using a third-party as the culprit. You will generally be able to observe discomfort in the verbal and non-verbal clues of a guilty person whereas and innocent person will gladly offer advice and be glad his opinion was sought. An innocent person will be unafraid to discuss the matter. A guilty person will seek to change the subject. Sometimes questions work best. If you are going to ask a direct question, give no advance warning and never reveal what you know first. Be aware of how you present yourself when you do this. One tactic is to try to gain the other persons trust by matching their posture, speech and even their key words. Once the other person starts to give you an answer,

An innocent person will be unafraid to discuss the matter. A guilty person will seek to change the subject.

to the movement and position of specific body parts. In reality, it is more reliable as a verification of the persons comfort level with what they are telling you versus being determining factors by themselves. To get the most from reading a persons body language, look at the big picture. Look for timing that is off between gestures and words, mechanical, unnatural movements and gestures that dont match the verbal message. A person attempting to deceive will always seek to put distance between themselves and the other person, even if in the most subtle of ways. They will slouch, turn their body or head away from you and have little or no physical contact with you. You can often induce stress and observe the persons reaction by intentionally moving closer to them, facing them squarely and eliminating any barriers between themselves and you. For all physical or non-verbal clues, always look for a persons Initial Reaction Expression (IRE) - that is a true expression that comes forth before

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never interrupt them. In fact, silence can sometimes be a powerful tool. A guilty person is less likely to be comfortable with it and will tend to verbally ramble. Another technique is to ask a leading question. Ask it in a way that makes the person think that what you suspect is OK or that youve always known about it. This requires a conversational casualness on your part. Make them feel like they are actually the good guys when they admit to it. In other words, give the liar an incentive to confess. Why not avoid the lie in the first place? How? Word the question in such a way as to encourage the interviewee to tell the truth and avoid lying, which will only make the problem worse. Heres a great example of helping the subject avoid lying. A parent suspects her 13-year old son is smoking cigarettes. Now she can ask her son one of these questions. You decide which one is more likely to get a truthful answer. Question 1: Have you been smoking cigarettes? I am going to kill you if I find out you have! In this question the mother links confessing to the truth with punishment. She offers no incentive for him to tell the truth. She is likely to be lied to. Question 2: Youve been smoking, havent you? A better approach, but unless her son thinks she have evidence to prove it, he is still likely to lie. Question 3: Are you going to tell me when you started smoking? This is an assumption question. The son knows that his mother knows he is smoking. He may be willing to talk about it, or refuse to talk about it. In which case, you have your answer. Question 4: I know all about your smoking and the sneaking around that you have been doing. You know I am not happy about that, but I just want you to promise me that you wont drink alcohol until you are 21-years old. Will you promise me that? This is an assumptive question I know all about

your smoking. It adds truth and sincerity, not happy about your sneaking around. And it gives her son an easy way out. All he has to do is promise not to drink alcohol and he gets a free ride. There is no threat of punishment if he tells the truth. This is an offer to tell the truth that he simply cant refuse. The outrageous accusation. In some cases you may want to try using an overkill strategy. Accuse them of everything - even more than what youre really trying to find out about. While doing this you can use statements like, If you had just done this it would be one thing, but I cant believe you did THIS! Once again, youre making them feel like a better person by admitting to only the one thing and not all youve accused them of. Other approaches include exchanging confidences with the person. You tell them that youve done something seemingly worse and put them in the mode of Ill tell you mine if you tell me yours. You can also show the focus of your concern is on the intent, not the deed - I understand, it was a dire situation and you couldnt help yourself. Weve all been there. Or you can try to approach them as a co-conspirator. This is the Let me in on the action scenario. And you can offer the incentive of absolution. By telling them things can be cleared up now, that it can be worked out or even that you blame yourself, but if we can clear this up things will be even better between us. There are numerous other creative approaches to getting to the truth. The key to making any of them work is your approach and consistency in pursuing them. In the final analysis, the truthful person generally is calm, relaxed and cooperative when being questioned about a problem or crisis situation. He is sincere in both word and action. His smile looks genuine because he is sincere. The truthful person is inflexible in the story he tells (after all, the truth is what it is and is not subject to negotiation or

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alteration). Ask a truthful and innocent person a question and he gives a direct, no-nonsense answer. He has no need for evasive, misleading or defensive answers because he is innocent. Back to Max Early in this report, Max was faced with a dilemma. Was he being lied to? And if so, by whom and how could he find out? Without going into great detail to describe the words and actions of each of the people in Maxs story, profiling their baseline behavior and examining Maxs interactions with each of them, there is no way you can tell from the way the story was told who was lying. So here are the answers: Lisa, the sales rep was lying. So was the sales clerk in the electronics store. His wife, Jennie, was telling the truth. Now that we know this, lets look at how Max could have found these things out for himself.

In either case, if Lisa is not telling the truth, shes going to be evasive and want to keep Max as far away from the account as possible. For his part, Max should persist in trying to get at the truth because to let Lisa have the account when, by rights it should be his, is going have a significant negative impact on him. Max should trust his instincts when it comes to the sales clerk. His impression was that the guy was blowing him off. So, instead of believing him and waiting to get a call from the store, he should just go find the item somewhere else. This is an example of a fairly insignificant lie, but if Max goes along with it, he is wasting time and energy he doesnt need to waste. The situation with Maxs wife is more serious. The fact that he has suspicions, when she is telling the truth, can be as damaging as if she were lying. It can affect his behavior toward her and seriously damage their marriage.

With Lisa, Max could try to be friendly, congratulate her on her success and innocently ask her some detailed information such as who was her contact at the printing company. He could then try to verify not only her contact, but how long she had been calling on them through his contact at the same company. Another approach would be to volunteer his help to Lisa. He could give her the records of his sales calls to the company and offer to help her on the account.

The fact that he has suspicions, when she is telling the truth, can be as damaging as if she were lying.

If he wants to know about his wifes lunch with her friend, Linda, he should ask her about it, expressing a genuine interest in hearing all about it. He should ask for details where did they go? What did she eat? He should also ask about Linda. Whats she been up to? What did they talk about? If he does all this in a non-threatening, non-accusatory manner, his wife will appreciate the interest. Most importantly, Max knows his wife well. He knows what her baseline behavior is. And while theyre having their conversation, he better than anyone will be able to observe her behavior, if he remains objective.

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Parting thoughts. There is no 100% accurate, foolproof, and reliable system, method or technique in existence for determining truth or deception. We are dealing with human behavior, and weve all seen strange, irrational and exception to the rule idiosyncrasies. Just when we think we have it neatly pinned down, along comes someone who does not fit our model of expectations. Remember, although there are fundamental, recognizable and identifiable differences in the ways most deceptive people talk and behave, this does not mean that all possible liars will behave the same way, or that all truthful people will do the same. Because lying is intended to deceive, it lends itself to innumerable disguises. One important, although, neglected way of unmasking a liar may be selfobservation that is, diverting your attention back to yourself. Watch and make note of your own actions and reactions when youre not telling the truth: How are you feeling? What are you thinking? What kinds of verbal and/or non-verbal clues are you exhibiting? Play-act a role; pretend you are the fabricator, and then use your own experience to detect lies and lying in others. Sometimes it does take one to know one!
Play-act a role; pretend you are the fabricator, and then use your own experience to detect lies and lying in others.

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