Follow these simple tips to establish if a person is likely to be lying.
Make him comfortable
Making someone comfortable gives you a baseline of what is normal for them. It is difficult to tell if someone is lying or they are just feeling nervous so put them at their easy. Offer him a seat or a drink of water, then you have more chance of figuring out if he is honest or not.
What does he already know?
Ask simple questions, things you know he already knows. This gives him no reason to try to lie so you see how he behaves when telling the truth. It also continues to build on their feeling of comfort.
Watch the body language
Keep a close eye on him and mentally note anything unusual, especially when answering the baseline questions. Some of the mannerisms you could look for include:
- Foot tapping
- Playing with or tossing their hair
- Biting their nails
- Facial expressions
- Sighs
- Clearing the throat
- Lowering eyes/averting gaze
- Adjusting their clothing
If you know the person is not lying you can see what their normal behaviours are, making it so much easier to spot anything that might suggest they are lying.
Look for lying behaviours
Once you have set the baseline it is time to start asking more questions, this time relating to the lie you feel you have been told. The person will not show all of the behaviours that can be associated with lying and even if they do it does not prove conclusively that they are not telling the truth. However, if a number of the behaviours are present and they are not part of their baseline it is likely that you should not believe their responses.
Pay Attention to the first 3-5 seconds
The brain needs a few seconds to work out a lie, so it is likely that if this is the case there will be a sign within the first 3-5 seconds on their answer. The story will be imprecise; they may stumble over details. Other things to look for are:
Indirect answers
Instead of just answering the question, they will choose another route such as telling you why they are trustworthy, or recounting tales of all the great things they have done. An honest person just answers the question and has no need to try to prove their honesty.
Religion
It is a common ploy that someone with ill-intent will insist they can be trusted based on nothing other than their religious beliefs.
Watch their feet
Feet are often a real give-away so keep an eye on them. If his feet are still but start moving around when you ask them a difficult question, the chances are they are lying.
Freezing
Sometimes when someone is lying the move less. Staying completely still, the freeze, is a sign that they may be guilty.
Watch for the stare
The common understanding is that a lie means you look down, however, some people know this and they maintain over long eye contact. Also, there are many other reasons why people look down. For example, if someone is in a position of authority we tend to look down. A person who knows about this will maintain eye contact for too long. This over-stare is designed to convince you they are honest and ‘can look you straight in the eye’. They are trying too hard, and this is not normal behaviour.
Overreacting when confronted
When challenged people who are lying tend to have overreactions and will often try to make you feel ridiculous (and perhaps rude!) for having ever doubted them. Unfortunately, this sort of behaviour makes people warier and likely to want more information rather than less.
Light punishments
Ask them what they think a punishment should be for certain things, guilty people tend to suggest lighter punishments.
No direct answers
It is unusual for a liar to directly answer a question, in fact, they often do anything to avoid it. You will not get a direct yes or no answer. So if someone won’t respond or just answers a question with a question you can be fairly confident that they are lying.
Head Movements
When a person answers a question honestly their head will start moving before they speak, if the head moves yes or no after speaking has started, then there is a higher probability that they are telling a lie.
