I am currently connected with one of the most aspired government controlled corporations nowadays. As an employee, one of our daily transactions or routines is to entertain clients. However, as a public servant, you need to be courteous, patient enough and the hard thing is to act as if you’re okey even if you’re not.  Sometimes, you want to squeeze and shout someone but apparently and in reality we’re forbidden to do so since that what’s have been practiced in the company and for the sake of public “ethics”.

However there are some instances that you can’t help but to pinch your skin out of angry at someone because you can’t yell to them. As what the great “someone” say; “our clients are always right”. Moreover, there are many cases that clients are already accusing us of something and worse, they make scenes out of the blue. Promise, these scenes would really make you green, horrible person than you could ever imagine. These clients are could be entertained either thru phone or personally right in front of you. But the hard and very difficult to entertain are those obviously and vehemently committing LIES.

And so, I want to share with what I’ve found on net while I surfing tonight. This are tips on how to spot liars, not just in our working environment but as well as to those whom we meet regularly if not strangers.

If a person touches his nose, or covers his mouth, is he lying? In some cases yes, this can be an indicator.

It is all about calibration.

What is calibration?

When looking for a lie, you need to know what a person does when they are telling the truth. If a person uses their hands when they talk, or their eyes dart around when they are having a comfortable conversation, you can calibrate their mannerisms, voice, tempo and eyes for honesty. Notice their normal mannerisms when you know they are answering the easy questions and telling the truth. This is the most critical part.

When you suspect that someone is lying, you will compare their dishonest response to the way they respond when telling the truth.

Hands, head position, voice level, eye positions, shoulders, everything will be a signal when you know what to look for.

You need to make note of the differences in behavior that shows that an internal conflict is happening. When there is a conflict, the brain does not respond normally. It creates signals that make it impossible for the person to keep the same mannerisms, voice tone , head position, all in a congruent state as the lie is told.

Typical body language that reveals an internal conflict:

Hands over mouth
Hand to nose
Hand to ear
Hands or fingers moving, wringing, tapping
Head tilt to side
Head turned away
Body moving backwards
Blink rate increases
Pupils contract
Eyes go down to left or right
Eyelids stay closed during the answer
Voice tone rises
Clearing the throat

Do these things mean a person is lying? Not necessarily.
It depends on the calibration. Remember you are looking for the differences- the thing that the body does because there is an internal conflict that causes involuntary "leakage" of the emotional charge.

Words can be a great indicator that a person is about to lie:

Answering your question with a question
Repeating the statement, rather than answering
Say "I am telling you the truth
"I will not lie to you"
Accusing "Are you saying I am lying?"
Stammering, stuttering, and pausing before answering
Pointing while answering

The sound of the voice

Voice raises due to tightness of vocal chords.
Anxiety makes voice squeaky or raspy
Mumbling

Eyes

Eye position
Blink rate increasing
pupils contracting
Looking down to left or right (depending on whether the person is right or left handed)
Eye twitch- involuntary
Staring into your eyes (look for leakage immediately)

These signals alone do not mean a person is lying. If you have calibrated properly, you will see the immediate and obvious change, or combination of behaviors that mean they are lying. Remember, it is all about the way the person tells the truth, that will tell you when they are lying.

Some people think that they can lie by looking you right in the eyes. But, guaranteed, something else will give. Even if they have practiced lying there will be a signal somewhere else.
A face that lacks expression can be covering up the lie- but the lack of expression and the lack of micro muscle movements can be the dead giveaway.

If you learn how to detect a liar, the clues will be obvious. You will wonder how you never noticed such OBVIOUS signals before. Learn from the video and then create your own internal lie detector that will take all the signals, calibrate them unconsciously and then you will know- is it truth or lie?

Jully