Is Someone Lying To You?
by
Chris Johnson (c) Copyright 2015
Not long ago, on a radio interview, I was asked by the int
erviewer about my ability on stage to tell when someone is lying to me. It was difficult to answer in such a short time space because even the classic signs are not the most accurate way. At least, not on their own.
There are some "classic" signs to tell if someone is lying to you.
A few examples I read about years ago, when studying body language, is that liars can cover their face with their hand. If they don't do that, they may stroke their chin or scratch their ear. It is almost as if they are trying to hide something that they are saying.Another "classic" sign that our parents used to teach us is how much eye contact is kept. It's believed that liars have trouble keeping eye contact while lying. To an extent that may be true but there are a couple of exceptions.
For example, a person with low self-esteem or a shyness problem and also have trouble watching you. They may be trying so hard to keep the eye contact, wanting you to know they are telling the truth that they become even shiftier. On the other hand, the liar (who is well aware of that classic sign that you are watching for) will also be practised in keeping eye contact by an adult age as well. They can be more convincing than the person who has the shyness problem.
A point like this can also become more interesting when you know how to watch their eyes. If they are looking upward while speaking with you, a person who processes things visually is likely to look upward. This means they are retrieving information from their mind and working through it to tell you the truth. On the other hand, a visual liar will start looking towards the side and may be more animated.
So don't use pure eye contact (or lack of it) as the only indicator of truth.
Try watching their mouth. Is it tense? That can indicate a certain level of stress, similar to what happens for a liar.
Watch their eyebrows too. Do they get drawn towards the middle of the forehead, creating little furrows? If so, check for any smoke coming from their burning pants.
In my own show, I perform one particular lie-detecting routine where I have two volunteers each decide between them if they will be a liar or a truth-teller. The reactions around their face do play a part when I speak to them to determine what they have chosen but their are other things I watch AWAY from their face too.
Do you think you can guess what they are?
I'll tell you more next time.
Until next time, have an ESPecially Brilliant Life.
Chris Johnson
