Liespotting_Proven Techniques to Detect Deception

by Pamela Meyer

  Today, it’s probably fair to say that most Americans are familiar with the most obvious nonverbal cues of body language. A restlessly kicking leg, hunched shoulders, a clenched fist pounding a table—these are such overt signs of emotion that they don’t require interpretation. However, we’re often not aware that our bodies reveal, often unconsciously, myriad subtle cues that can contradict our words. To a trained liespotter, these unconsciously “leaked” gestures provide a gold mine of information about someone.

  WHY ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

  There are two reasons why nonverbal behavior is a more reliable gauge than verbal behavior in deception detection.

  The first is this: liars tend to rehearse their words, not their gestures. Most people believe that they will be held more accountable for what they say than for their body language or facial expressions, so they put a lot of thought into how they want to tell a story. Perhaps they’ll even practice expressing the reaction they know is expected of them. Someone who leaks a story to the press knows that when the right time comes, he should accompany his reaction—“The Journal posted a story about the merger? Who talked?”—with the appropriate look of surprise, shock, or outrage. But if the conversation continues, he may get rattled. What’s he supposed to do with his hands? Should he stand up or sit down? He probably hasn’t thought about it, and likely he’s so busy making sure that he says the right words that he’s hardly paying attention to the fact that his leg is shaking nervously or that he’s twisting one curled toe into the floor.

  Sometimes, to make sure his body doesn’t betray him, someone on the verge of lying will try to move as little as possible. This leads us to the second reason that nonverbal behavior often reveals deception faster than words: stillness is unnatural. It’s impossible to keep the body quiet and not look odd. Yet as a rule, liars use far fewer gestures than the average person.7 Most people move around to emphasize their speech—leaning forward when they’re saying something important, raising up on the balls of the feet when they get excited. They use their hands to talk, waving their arms or tracing lines in the air. But many times liars focus so much mental energy on their carefully scripted words that they don’t have much left over for the body.

  Professional interrogators say that they often realize a suspect is lying when he freezes his upper body. It’s almost as though by staying still he thinks he can keep the interrogator from seeing him.8 Children as young as five years old show this tendency to move less when telling a lie.9

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  LIESPOTTING TIP

  Trust your instincts. If a conversation feels odd to you, it may be that the person you’re talking to has ceased using gestures or moving his upper body—this is unnatural behavior that suggests deception.

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  This is what Steve Marks witnessed when he approached that fake employee at her cubicle. As soon as the young woman realized she was being watched—and that she would need to come up with a story on the spot—she stopped moving her hands and froze her upper body. When prey spots a hawk flying overhead, it freezes in place. The actress’s instincts told her to do the same thing.

  FINDING LEAKS

  What interrogators and other liespotters are really looking for when watching someone’s body language is “emotional leakage,” the same unconscious expression of emotion that we can often see in the face. Much of the time, we’re well aware of how our face shows emotion, and we even work to control it. Someone who is preparing to lie may realize that she’ll be nervous while speaking; she will therefore prepare to avoid showing her anxiety and will try to look relaxed.

  The problem (for liars, anyway) is that much of the time we can’t anticipate our feelings—our emotions catch us by surprise. This is especially true when we’re asked or told something we haven’t prepared for. Remember the earlier example of the person who pretended not to know the source of a leak to the press? It’s likely that he was expecting some kind of confrontation and that he steeled himself against it. Combative or probing questions probably didn’t rattle him much. But what if he suddenly realized that he was not under suspicion? That wasn’t a circumstance he’d rehearsed for, and he probably wasn’t prepared to hide the thrill of relief that ran through his body. If a liespotter can catch that unguarded moment of relief, he has a chance to see the truth.

  THE BIG THREE

  Emotional leakage can be expressed most reliably through three different kinds of body movements:

  Emblems

  Illustrators

  Mirroring

  Unlike facial expressions, which we can learn to read, these movements won’t tell you exactly what someone else is feeling. But their presence or absence, or the way in which they’re used, can be extremely revealing if you’re dealing with a deceptive person.

  Emblems

  The “V” for victory sign you make by raising your middle finger and forefinger; the “finger” you rudely flash at the guy in the SUV who just cut you off in the middle lane; the hand you raise to your ear when you need someone to speak up—these are called emblems.10

  Emblems are signals that have meaning independent of speech. They are deliberate and specific enough that they can entirely replace a word or a phrase. In fact, many emblems are used when speech is impossible, such as when two people are underwater or when background noise is too loud for voices to be heard.11 There are approximately sixty commonly used American emblems.12 A wink, in certain contexts, means “I’m kidding.” A clenched and shaking fist: “I’m going to get you!” A nod: “Yes” a side-to-side head shake: “No.” And if we see someone standing on the side of the road with his thumb stuck out, we all know he is silently asking for a ride.

  You’ll recall that genuine expressions are usually symmetrical, whereas faked expressions are often asymmetrical. The same goes for emblems. When liars use emblems, they can be incomplete or performed awkwardly. A symmetrical two-shoulder shrug means “I don’t know.” A half shrug may indicate deception; so may a subtle shrug with no accompanying arm motion, or merely turning up one’s palms.

  “Okay” is a common American emblem, but is considered vulgar in some cultures.

  A shrug signals “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” a half shrug suggests a faked emotion.

  Outside their normal context, clenched fists indicate suppressed anger.

  When an emblem gesture appears outside its usual context, this may reveal that someone is trying to keep his emotions in check. An employee who says she’s not upset but flashes a shaky “okay” sign is probably not being honest about how angry or stressed she is actually feeling.

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  WATCH WHERE YOU FLASH THOSE EMBLEMS

  Unlike facial expressions, emblems vary from culture to culture. Making a circle with the thumb and forefinger means “okay” in the United States, but in Brazil or Italy, this emblem is definitely not okay: it is a crude gesture for a body part. Similarly, an American “V” for victory sign, with the palm facing inward, is a rude gesture in the U.K.

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  Illustrators

  Illustrators are gestures that are directly linked to speech. They’re used to emphasize a spoken point, to repeat its meaning (as when you rub your stomach while saying you’re hungry) or to enhance it.13 Unlike emblems, illustrators don’t replace speech. We rely on them to highlight our words, not to stand in for them. Alone, illustrators have no meaning. If someone silently traces a line through the air, you’re likely to be confused. But if you’ve asked that person for directions, and he traces the line in midair while explaining that when you turn on Fleet Street you need to go all the way to the end of the road, then the gesture has context, and you’ll understand it. If you’re describing a sudden rash of layoffs at work, you might “chop” your hand through the air like an ax blade; if you’re trying to convey to a bored eight-year-old that he was “only this big!” when you saw him last, you might put your palms a few inches apart.

  As with emblems, the use of illustrators tends to d
ecrease when someone is trying to lie. When someone is thinking hard about what he is saying, his focus is on crafting and maintaining his story through words. He doesn’t have an emotional investment in what he is saying, except insofar as it gets him what he wants. Illustrators stem from the emotion behind the words—when the emotion isn’t there, neither is the gesture.14

  A chop through the air is one example of an illustrator gesture that emphasizes speech.

  Mirroring

  Mirroring is a way of demonstrating that you’re at ease with another person.

  When someone feels comfortable in your presence, he will tend to mirror your body language with postural cues that let you know he’s engaged in the conversation. He’ll lean in when you do, or angle himself in his chair the same way as you—movements that “mirror” yours—so as to encourage you to continue talking. Over the course of a conversation, people who are comfortable with each other will roughly synchronize their speech patterns, vocal pitch, and even their breathing.

  Since mirroring is relatively easy to perform consciously, many dating books and relationship-oriented Web sites actually counsel people to mirror their companions’ actions. One online site cautions readers not to begin mirroring another person immediately. “Otherwise, the person might take it instead as mockery. Generally, the mirror actions should be done after 10–20 seconds, and must be done naturally. The other purpose of the mirror actions is to show the other person that you accept and respect their views…he/she will subconsciously see you as an open-minded person.”15

  Despite such widely available advice, liars can often be detected by the fact that they do not mirror behavior. When someone is uncomfortable or trying to avoid communicating, he may make gestures that oppose yours. He might pull back as you move forward or look away or put his hands to his face if you try to hold his gaze, or perhaps he will orient his body toward an exit. Even if he answers your questions, his body is begging you to leave him alone. In this situation, it’s quite possible that he’s trying to deceive you.

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  LIESPOTTING TIP

  Allow yourself to get a clear view of a person’s face, body, and legs when questioning him about possible deception. This increases your chances of spotting incongruent behaviors.

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  Watch for an even more revealing sign that someone might be trying to deceive you: Does he stop using any posturing cues at all? Does he use them awkwardly, outside the expected cadence and rhythm of the moment? Today’s average liar is well aware that his body language can reveal his true emotions, so he’ll often try too hard to do everything he can to control his movements. That in and of itself is a clue. A subject who is not naturally mirroring and is also refraining from the use of emblems or illustrators will look stilted or unnatural. Even if you weren’t actively looking for signs of deception, you might realize something is off: confronted by odd or awkward behavior, we’re likely to feel uncomfortable and awkward ourselves, and that’s an initial indicator that something is awry.

  WHAT TO LOOK FOR

  Everyone fidgets, of course. A little leg bouncing in a tense situation doesn’t necessarily mean anything suspicious, even though the classic signs of discomfort or impatience—fidgeting, finger-drumming, and toe-tapping—have proven to be consistently reliable signals that someone is deceptive. That said, you should watch for a cluster of behaviors—multiple signals that tell you you’re in the presence of someone who is hiding his real feelings.16

  Let’s say that the combination of a person’s facial expressions and his body language convinces you that he’s trying to fool you. Is this the time to pounce on him with an accusation? Absolutely not. Your first job as a liespotter is not to catch the lie. It’s to gather information so that you can make a decision about what to do next.

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  A BODY OF EVIDENCE

  Deception is just one of the many things exposed through our body language. The gestures and movements of friends and strangers alike can reveal startling insights into their thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Handshakes, arm positions, leg movements, posture, and where they stand or sit in a room all say far more about our companions than they realize. Of course, the same is true for our own nonverbal actions.

  Here are eight body language clues to watch for and understand:

  Open palms: A stance that includes open, upturned palms is welcoming and unthreatening, and indicates honesty as well as receptiveness to the other person. By contrast, hidden palms suggest concealment, and downward-turned palms project authority.

  Head nod: When you see the emblem that Americans know as a “Yes” gesture while someone is speaking, it generally means “Yes, I hear you,” not necessarily “Yes, I agree.”

  Steepling: Fingers lightly touching each other in the form of a church steeple are a common nonverbal way of conveying confidence, even superiority. As the gesture can be either positive or negative, consider the behavior that preceded it to determine the right context.

  Thrusting palm handshake: A favorite move of the power-player is to present a downward-facing palm for a handshake, instantly putting the receiver in a submissive position.

  Crossed arms: The reverse of open palms, a crossed-arm position (whether seated or standing) indicates a defensive, negative, or unwelcoming attitude. To break the lock, give the person with arms folded something to hold or do.

  Ankle lock: A corollary to the crossed arms, this closed gesture in which the legs are hooked together suggests withdrawal, uncertainty, or fear. It’s often seen in dentist chairs and interrogation rooms.

  Legs-apart stance: The look of cowboys and pro athletes before the game, this predominantly male gesture emphasizes the crotch area and suggests dominance and toughness.

  Lint picking: When someone turns away to pick lint (real or imaginary) off her clothing, it suggests that she disagrees with or disapproves of what she’s seeing or hearing, and probably has an opinion that she’s keeping to herself.17

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  Feet pointed toward the door suggest a person secretly wishes to exit.

  Leaning away from someone, when seated or standing, is a sign of discomfort.

  Let’s say you invited an employee—we’ll call him Thad—into your office to discuss some reports. As you question some of the numbers, you notice that Thad is leaning toward your office door. His foot is nervously jiggling up and down. Is he nervous because he’s in your office or because you’re getting too close to something in those reports that he doesn’t want you to see?

  There’s no way to tell yet; do your best to put Thad at ease. Crack a joke, offer him a mint, try to get him to relax. (In this case, the best “technique” is also the best way of being polite and welcoming—which will be useful if Thad is, in fact, telling the truth.) You know that a direct confrontation will simply lead to denial, and in any case you aren’t sure enough of your facts to risk antagonizing Thad. So move away from confrontation and watch how his body language changes.

  Without being obvious about it, watch Thad’s face, and take note of his gestures. When you do speak, choose your words carefully, asking general, open-ended, nonthreatening questions. Saying as little as possible—while keeping your eyes open—is an important liespotting skill.

  It’s not all about body language and micro-expressions, of course. Though learning to identify the revealing details of body language is crucial, you still need to analyze a subject’s actual words. In the next chapter, you’ll do just that.

  FIVE

  LISTENING TO THE WORDS

  People want to tell you what they’ve done. They want to confess to you. We just have to listen.

  —TODD BROWN, DETECTIVE1

  Jeff was a district manager for an industrial copier company. His sales force sold to businesses all over the East Coast. Though he was generally satisfied with his staff’s performance, Jeff was starting to wonder whether one of his sales reps, Wade, still had his heart in his work. Wade had always been a great team member, reliable and
on target, but lately he seemed to be struggling to meet his goals and closing deals in a panicked rush at the last minute. Over the past year, he had started going for long periods of time without answering his cell phone. Finally, Wade missed a meeting without offering any reason why, and a client complained to Jeff.

  Jeff believed in second chances. He didn’t want to fire an employee who had shown so much potential. Hoping to get a better sense of what might be going on, Jeff asked Wade to join him for lunch at a local café. When the men were led to a corner table by the hostess, Jeff allowed Wade to choose his seat. He didn’t want to make any gestures that Wade could interpret as one-upsmanship.

  The men ordered. Jeff noticed that Wade seemed a little quiet and that he kept fingering the tines of the clean fork resting next to his plate. His right hand remained somewhat awkwardly in his lap. Already he seemed uncomfortable, but Jeff did his best to put him at ease.

  After some easy banter about local sports and the two men’s families, Jeff remarked brightly, “I’ve been meaning to congratulate you on the sale to Bayern Designs. I can’t believe they’re taking over two additional floors in their building. Things must be going well for them.”

  “Must be,” replied Wade, nodding, as the food arrived. Before Jeff could even arrange his napkin on his lap, Wade was diving into his lunch.

  “Well, how about you? How are things going with you?” Jeff asked. He did his best to sound unthreatening.

  Wade finished chewing, swallowed, and replied, “How are things going? They’re going fine.”

  Clearly, Wade wasn’t going to give him an easy way in. It was time to get to the real topic. Jeff put down his fork. “Wade, you know I have to ask you about the missed meeting with Ann Fischer. Can you tell me what happened?”