Being able to detect if someone is lying to you, can be a great skill that will not only save you from being cheated but will also make the walk of life much easier for you. Body language can actually tell you if a person is being honest or not. However, it is really important that you judge the whole scenario as well as the background of the person before arriving at any conclusion. Body languages and face expressions say a lot unless the person has already mastered the art of hiding them, which is not very uncommon in case of habitual liars.
There are some signs that are often given out by even the habitual liars and you can catch them if you are paying enough attention. While trying to understand if a person is lying to you or not through body language and face expressions, it is important that you note more than one of these signs. When a person is lying he or she is most expected to give out more than one of these body language signs or facial expressions.
Catching the micro-expressions is the key
According to the researchers, one of the most effective ways to catch if a person is lying or not, is to look out for micro expressions on their face. Micro-expressions are expressions that come on face for might be just a fraction of second. However, if you are looking at the liar closely, you can certainly catch the sign.
The common micro-expression of a man or woman lying is of distress or uncomfortableness. He might just squeeze his eyes for a second or show a facial expression that indicates about light distress. Inward pulling of the brow creating creases on the forehead is often considered as a micro-expression given out by people when lying.
A drying mouth
When a person is lying about something serious, there are maximum chances that he or she will feel his/her mouth getting dry. If she seems to sip water repeatedly while talking with you or suck his tongue or lick his lips, there is high probability that he might be lying. Dryness of the mouth is caused due to anxiety and when a person is telling a lie to you most probably he is anxious at the heart either because he is not sure if you will buy the lie or he himself is not very comfortable with lying to you.
Look for the eyes
The eyes of a person can tell a lot, if you know how to read. However, at the same time the chances of misreading the eye expressions of a person are highest. So, when you are trying to read the eye movements or the eye expressions of a person to understand if he or she is lying, it is important that you take a close look at the person and also look out for other signs of lying before making your conclusion.
The idea that a person lying to you will avoid eye contact is not correct always. In fact, a habitual liar might directly look into your eyes while telling the lie without fumbling. On the other hand, a person might not be making eye contacts while telling you something because he or she is shy. So, reading the eye expressions for lying can be tricky.
Look out for fluttering of eyes. Often while telling something that is not true to the knowledge of that person saying it, people tend to blink more often. Fluttering of the eyelids more particularly when telling you something indicates that the person might be lying. You need to keep a close watch on his eyes from before to distinguish if the rate of eye flattering is increased than normal while telling you something. If an individual suddenly starts to flutter his eyes even a little bit more than he was doing before, it indicates that the person might be making up something in his mind and not telling you the truth or the whole truth.
Another point you can notice in a person lying to you is longer duration of eyelid closed time. Blinking is natural, but when a person is making something up he or she will naturally tend to take more time to answer. Keeping the eyelids closed for longer than usual gives him or her some more time to make the story. So, longer eyelid closing time gives a direct indication that the person might not be telling the truth.
Hand and leg movements to catch a liar
The movements of the hands can be highly indicative to infer if a person is lying. When a person is lying he is most expected to show certain gestures or movement of hands that can be easily read by a person with the right eye.
Often liars touch their nose while lying. It is because the excitement related with lying increases the adrenalin flow in the body which might trigger the sensitivity of the nose. Touching the nose or even the ears unconsciously while talking or telling something, is considered as general signs that should make you doubtful about the truth of the words the person is saying. Liars are also often found to try to cover their mouth unconsciously with one hand while lying.
Another common body language that you might notice in a person lying to you is fidgety movement of the hands. If he or she seems to change the position of the hands too quickly or if he or she certainly becomes uncomfortable with his or her hands, it directly indicates that something is not right. While lying people often tend to try to distract you to something else, while they are doing the talking. Gestures that might divide your attention are a natural part of the general body language exhibited by the liars while lying. Sweaty hands are another common sign of lying. It is often caused due to the anxiousness related to telling a lie.
Just like the hands, a liar also tends to move his or her legs more while lying. Tapping of feet or moving it here and there or just changing the position of the legs repeatedly can indicate that he is uncomfortable within himself and can be a sign that he is not telling the truth. However, not being able to find the right position for the legs can also be a sign of flirting or shyness. So, before you infer anything, consider the whole background as well as other signs.
Use of the in-between space
The socially acceptable distance between two people is 4 feet. Often a liar will try to move himself away by increasing this distance while telling a lie. If the person leans away from you while telling you something or tilt his neck in a way that increases this gap, most probably he is lying. However, on the other hand, if a person is lying to you to win your sympathy he or she might tend to close in this space while telling you the lie. So, when you are making your decision, consider the total picture and infer accordingly.
Use the voice signals to detect lie
The voice of a person can be a true indicator of lie. People often change their talking pattern, speed as well as pitch while telling a lie. An increased speed or suddenly going too slow with every word can indicate that the person is not telling the truth. The person might also suddenly start talking in a lower or higher pitch while telling a lie. Voice indicators are often one of the most efficient ways to detect lie because the subtle changes in voice are often not recognizable to the liar himself.
The construction of sentence
Another way that you can effectively use to detect lie is the construction of sentence. Usually when a person is lying either he or she has rehearsed it and will be accurate while telling you, without any gaps or fumbling; or if he is making things up sitting right in front of you, he will take time to complete each of his sentences. If a person is using phrases like “honestly”, “truly”, “as a matter of fact” too much in his speech, there is a maximum chance of dishonesty in what he is saying.
The way of answering to your question can be another indicator for detecting lies. If a person seems to be already prepared with the answer that he or she has rehearsed, you can expect to get a reply as quickly as you will finish your question. On the other hand, if the person is making up things at the point, he will take more time to answer you. He might also ask you to repeat the question or to explain it more in order to get more time to make things up.
If the person gives exaggerated details about something or tend to skip the details, even when asked, he might be actually lying. Repeating the same words over and over can also be an indicator of lying. In this case the liar is not confident about if you actually believed his lie or not and hence repeats the same thing to make you believe it.
The above are some simple indicators that can be helpful for you to detect lies. However, as already mentioned, when you are inferring body languages and face expressions, it is important that you know the background of the person and also consider the situation before arriving at any conclusion.
