Catching a liar

By Miss Taurus

Lying has been around as long as the truth. Majority of humanity, however, almost all of the time, tells the truth. But once in a while, you get the sneaking suspicion that the person talking to you isn’t giving it straight.

Some people willingly accept a lie as a fact only because the truth might be too painful to handle. Contrary, other people are so desperate to believe that the painful truth is a lie that they will see ‘signs of lying’ where there is none.

To accurately spot a lie, be aware of the person’s motivations for lying, including what you might do to him/her if you discover the truth. Also look out for:

• Little to no body movement: People will sometimes ‘freeze’ during the lie. Others will fight this by being overly dramatic to try and ‘sell’ the lie.

•No eye contact: Most people have a hard time lying to someone while looking directly into his eyes. Sometimes this only occurs at the moment of the lie, a brief glance at the floor or to the right. Some will sell the lie by making and maintaining eye contact fiercely, more than usual.

• Stress gestures including rapid blinking, scratching, itching, swallowing and fidgeting.

• Touching the nose and covering the face/mouth. These gestures are a sub-conscious attempt to ‘cover up’ the lie.

• Rise in vocal pitch. This should be noticeable if you are familiar with the person’s normal speaking voice.

• Wide-eyed, innocent look based on the ‘who, me?’ fake innocence usually associated with children.

• Noticeable pause in speaking. Careful questioning will reveal variations in their story, as a consistent fiction is hard to remember, whereas actual events are easy to recall.

• Trust your intuition: Most people have a decent ‘lie detector’ built in, and if you trust it, it can help you detect a liar.