Deception Tips Podcast

Deception Tip 52: Liars may sometimes massage the fleshy part of the hand beneath the thumb with the thumb and index finger of the opposite hand.

Deception Tip 51: People under stress or tension will wring their hands or tightly clasp them together.

Deception Tip 50: Occasionally, a liar may point him or herself towards the exit as if they are planning to escape from the situation.

Deception Tip 49: Some liars may cross the bottoms of their legs at the calf muscle in an “X” like position as if to block the target’s perceptions.

Deception Tip 48: A behavior indicative of lying is when a person gives a slight shoulder shrug when answering a question.

Deception Tip 47: Legs may be one of the best indicators of nonverbal behavior. When rooting out a liar, keep an eye on the legs.

Deception Tip 46: A liar may puff up his or her cheeks and then exhale slowly through pursed lips to pacify their tension.

Deception Tip 45: Liars may place their hand or fingers over their lips in a hushing position as if they are telling themselves to “shh”.

Deception Tip 44: Stress and defensiveness may be indicated when someone touches the dimple in their neck. Women may play with a necklace. Men may adjust their tie or collar.

Deception Tip 43: A liar may hesitate or use stalling tactics, such as asking for the question to be repeated or rephrased.

Deception Tip 42: Often times, liars place their hand on the back of their neck as if to massage away the tension in telling a lie.

Deception Tip 41: Liars may touch the bottom of their nose with one finger, usually the index, in a side-to-side motion.

Deception Tip 40: When telling lies, people may curl up in an effort to take up as little space as possible.

Deception Tip 39: Liars may yawn repeatedly as if to convey boredom or relaxation.

Deception Tip 38: When a liar is under pressure or duress, the muscles of the neck may tense up and the veins may protrude.

Deception Tip 37: People often try to mask their face more than their body when they tell lie. As a result, the body will have more leakage than the face.

Deception Tip 36: Liars may pretend to have something in their eye and rub it with their hand  or finger in an unconscious attempt to block unlikable stimuli.

Deception Tip 35: Truthful people tend to mirror head movements of the person with whom they converse, whereas a liar takes a more statuesque pose.

Deception Tip 34: The lips of liars take on all sorts of positions; they may suck them  inward, pucker them, bite their lower lip, or point the lip corners  downward.

Deception Tip 33: A liar may tend to speak in the third person and/or use distancing pronouns. Example: Saying one instead of I.

Deception Tip 32: When lying, people tend to experience severe dry mouth. As a result, they may frequently lick their lips.

Deception Tip 31: Liars like to use unconventional, and in ordinary, language in an effort to sound more truthful and sophisticated.

Deception Tip 30: Liars may rapidly bounce both of their legs in a non-rhythmic fashion to release the stress or tension involved in telling a lie.

Deception Tip 29: When accused, a liar will often take a step backward, and sometimes raise their hands, as if to ward off the accusation.

Deception Tip 28: Truthful facial expressions of emotion are micro-expressions, and appear for less than a second. They are unconscious and symmetrical.

Deception Tip 27: When asked, a guilty person will often propose a more lenient consequence, as opposed to a more common sense, or standard, consequence.

Deception Tip 26: Often times, accusing a liar of a more serious crime may entice them to admit to, or agree with, the accusation of a lesser crime.

Deception Tip 25: The longer it takes to answer a simple yes or no question, the more suspicious the target should be.

Deception Tip 24: Liars often over pledge their truthfulness using honest, or anti lie, phrases. Example: To be honest, To tell you the truth.

Deception Tip 23: Watch facial expressions carefully. If the left side is more expressive than the right, that may indicate false emotion or deception.

Deception Tip 22: Seated liars will often lock their ankles and may even tuck them back in an attempt to minimize their body and block off the perceptions of others.

Deception Tip 21: When a target suggests the correct answer, a liar’s face will freeze for less than a split second, like a deer in the headlights. Eyes open and mouth in an ‘O’ shape.

Deception Tip 20: Liars often display increased eye contact. As if to see that the target believes their lie.

Deception Tip 19: Contempt is the only asymmetrical facial expression. Liars may display it when targets suggest incorrect, or inept, answers.

Deception Tip 18: Liars often use distancing language when speaking about someone they would like to avoid being associated with. Example: That man instead of his name.

Deception Tip 17: Liars add lots of detail to their stories and can be overly specific. Whereas truth tellers use more general statements and estimations.

Deception Tip 16: Beware of asymmetrical gestures, as truthful expressions are symmetrical. Shoulder shrugs more prominent on one side may be indicative of deception.

Deception Tip 15: Liars rehearse the events of their story in order. To trip them up, ask them to tell it in reverse. Often times they will be unable to do so.

Deception Tip 14: Truthful facial expressions of emotion appear naturally and are symmetrical. Deceptive facial expressions appear at will and are asymmetrical.

Deception Tip 13: Let the liar speak. Stay silent. Often times, liars will continue to speak until they believe the target believes their lie. They may contradict themselves thus revealing the truth.

Deception Tip 12: Truthful words and gestures occur simultaneously. In contrast, lying words and gestures will be out of sync. Example: Pointing after speaking.

Deception Tip 11:  Liars will seize any opportunity to be believed. Therefore, it is very likely that the liar will accept lies told by the target even if they may be incriminating.

Deception Tip 10: A quick answer of yes or no, followed by a delayed explanation, may suggest deception, as the person might have been thinking about their response.

Deception Tip 9: Some liars may make positive statements negative, or vice versa, to provide quick answers to the question. Example: Did you… No, I did not do…

Deception Tip 8: Liars will often unconsciously place object(s) between themselves and the target as a defensive barrier.

Deception Tip 7: It is essential to look for clusters, or patterns, of behavior when detecting deception. Liars always display more than one sign.

Deception Tip 6:  When a liar is questioned, vulnerability may be shown by unconsciously covering the genital area. Either with folded hands or an object.

Deception Tip 5: Guilty people often avoid using contractions as if to emphasize their innocence. Example: using did not instead of didn’t.

Deception Tip 4: While reciting a rehearsed lie, it is difficult to perform physical tasks, such as making coffee. The liar will most likely stand perfectly still with items in hand.

Deception Tip 3: Contradictory behaviors, such as saying no while nodding yes, are often displayed by liars.