ow to Detect Lies

Become a Human Lie Detector (Part 1)

Warning: sometimes ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be
hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you. The following deception
detection techniques are often used by police, forensic psychologists, security
experts and other investigators.

Introduction to Detecting Lies:

This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in
everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from
being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.

This is just a basic run down of physical (body language) gestures and verbal cues
that may indicate someone is being untruthful.

If you got here from somewhere else, be sure to

check out our Lie Detection index page for more info
including newer research in the field of forensic
psychology. Last update: March 15th, 2011.

Signs of Deception:
Body Language of Lies:
• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with
few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg
movement are toward their own body the liar takes
up less space.

• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye

contact.

• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth.

Touching or scratching the nose or behind their
ear.Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open
hand.
Emotional Gestures & Contradiction
• Timing and duration of emotional gestures and
emotions are off a normal pace. The display of
emotion is delayed, stays longer it would naturally,
then stops suddenly.

• Timing is off between emotions

gestures/expressions and words. Example: Someone
says "I love it!" when receiving a gift, and then smile
after making that statement, rather then at the same
time the statement is made.

• Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal

statement, such as frowning when saying “I love you.”
• Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions
(like happy, surprised, sad, awe, )instead of the whole face. For example; when
someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved: jaw/cheek movement, eyes
and forehead push down, etc.

Also see our article on micro expressions & lying.

Interactions and Reactions

• A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.

• A liar is uncomfortable facing his questioner/accuser and may turn his head or
body away.

• A liar might unconsciously place objects (book, coffee cup, etc.) between
themselves and you.
Verbal Context and Content
• A liar will use your words to make answer a question. When asked, “Did you eat
the last cookie?” The liar answers, “No, I did not eat the last cookie.”

•A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: “ I didn't do it”

instead of “I did not do it”

• Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply
answers instead of denying something directly.

• The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to
convince you... they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation.

• A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful
statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the
words in a statement.

• Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In
other
words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.

• The use of distancing language.

Also see our article on Statement Analysis for a more in-depth look at word
analysis techniques used by interrogators.
Other signs of a lie:
• If you believe someone is lying, then change subject of a conversation quickly, a
liar follows along willingly and becomes more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject
changed; an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change in topics and
will want to back to the previous subject.

• Using humor or sarcasm to avoid a subject.

Final Notes:
Obviously, just because someone exhibits one or more of these signs does not make
them a liar. The above behaviors should be compared to a persons base (normal)
behavior whenever possible.

Most lie detecting experts agree that a combination of body language and other cues
must be used to make an educated guess on whether someone is telling the truth or
a lie.

Eye Direction and Lying

Eye Movement and Direction & How it Can Reveal Truth or Lies
This is a continuation of our previous article Detecting Lies. Many comments by our
visitors asked about how eye direction can indicate the presence of a lie.

Can the direction a person's eyes reveal whether or not they are making a truthful
statement? Short answer: sort of. But, it isn't as simple as some recent television
shows or movies make it seem.

In these shows a detective will deduce if a person is being untruthful simply because
they looked to the left or right while making a statement.

In reality, it would be foolish to make such a snap judgment without further

investigation... but the technique does have some merit.

So, here it is... read, ponder and test it on your friends and family to see how
reliable it is for yourself.

Visual Accessing Cues

The first time "Visual Accessing Cues" were discussed (at least to my knowledge),
was by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in their book "Frogs into Princes: Neuro
Linguistic Programming (NLP) " From their experiments this is what they found.

When asked a question a "normally organized" right-handed

person looks (from your viewpoint, looking at them):
Up and to the Left
Indicates: Visually Constructed Images (Vc)
If you asked someone to "Imagine a purple buffalo", this would be the direction their
eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Visually Constructed" a
purple buffalo in their mind.

Up and to the Right

Indicates: Visually Remembered Images (Vr)
If you asked someone to "What color was the first house you lived in?", this would be
the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Visually
Remembered" the color of their childhood home.

To the Left
Indicates: Auditory Constructed (Ac)
If you asked someone to "Try and create the highest the sound of the pitch
possible in your head", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while
thinking about the question as they "Auditorily Constructed" this this sound
that they have never heard of.

To the Right
Indicates: Auditory Remembered (Ar)
If you asked someone to "Remember what their mother's voice sounds

like ", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the
question as they "Auditorily Remembered " this sound.

Down and to the Left

Indicates: Feeling / Kinesthetic (F)
If you asked someone to "Can you remember the smell of a campfire?

", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about

the question as they used recalled a smell, feeling, or taste.

Down and To the Right

Indicates: Internal Dialog (Ai)
This is the direction of someone eyes as they "talk to themselves".

The Gist of it...

How this information is used to detect lies:

Example: Let's say your child asks you for a cookie, and you ask: "Well, what did
your mother say?" As they reply "Mom said... yes.", they look to the left. This would
indicate a made up answer as their eyes are showing a "constructed image or sound.
Looking to the right would indicated a "remembered" voice or image, and thus would
be telling the truth.

Final Notes:
*** Looking straight ahead or with eyes that are defocused/unmoving is also
considered a sign of visual accessing.

*** A typical left-handed person would have the opposite meanings for their eye-
directions.

*** As with other signs of lying, you should first establish and understand a persons
base-behavior before concluding they are lying by the direction of their eyes.

*** Many critics believe the above is a bunch of bull***t. In my own experiments I
have found these techniques to be more true than not. But, why not find out for
yourself? Make up a list of questions that like the sample ones, and give them to
your friends/family anyone who would be your guinea pig, observe their eye
movements and record the results.

Micro Expressions, Subtle Body Language and Lying

Is the show "Lie to Me" for real?
I am not a police interrogator, scientist, or other expert... I am however a mother &
people watcher.

Years ago, when I wrote articles on How to Detect Lies & Eye Movement and Lying --
I knew of the Micro expression theory, but had a difficult time researching the
subject well enough to relay it into an article.

Recently, I've come across tons of new research, websites, articles, videos, etc.
about micro expressions and believe anyone who reads my old articles about lying &
body language would benefit from micro expression research and theory.

What are Micro Expressions?

A micro expression is a momentary involuntary facial expression -- that people
unconsciously display when they are hiding an emotion. They are quick & intense
expressions of concealed emotion.

The main points to remember are that micro expressions are:

Brief - Micro-expressions can appear then disappear off the face in a fraction of a
second. In other words micro-expressions occur so quickly, that most people don't
even notice them.
 Involuntary - A micro-expression is caused
by involuntary movements in facial muscles. (See the fake-smile illustration ). Most
people cannot control these involuntary muscles which are affected by their
emotions.

Micro Expressions are generally grouped into seven universal emotions: anger,
disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt.

A Brief History of Micro Expression Theory

According to Wikipedia - Micro Expressions were first discovered by Haggard and
Isaacs in the 1960s. In 1966, Haggard and Isaacs outlined how they discovered
these "micromomentary" expressions published under the title: "Micromomentary
facial expressions as indicators of ego mechanisms in psychotherapy".

Although it is not included in most histories of micro

expressions; I would like to point out that Darwin's book "The Expression of the
Emotions in Man and Animals" published in 1872 deserves a mention.Darwin noted
the universal nature of facial expressions, the muscles used in facial
expressions, etc. Check out more illustrations from Darwin's book . Also worth
noting is Guillaume Duchenne and the Duchenne Smile.

Most websites I can find next list William Condon as a pioneer who studied hours of
tapes in the 1960s frame by frame to discover micro movements like micro
expressions. I can find little info on this research but there is some other interesting
body language & verbal expression / NLP research by a Dr. William S. Condon (I'm
99% sure it's the same dude - contact me if you have any info on the 1960s micro
expression research by Condon as cited on wikipedia). Others mentioned as
pioneering researchers in the field include John Gottman and Paul Eckman.

Dr. Paul Ekman's research (along with the work of Silvan Tomkins ) in the study of
emotions and their relation to facial expressions took Darwin's work to the next level
proving that facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined, but
biological in origin and universal across human cultures. Eckman co-developed
the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) with Wallace V. Friesen in 1976. FACS is a
system to taxonomize human facial expressions, and still used today by
psychologists, researchers and animators.

Dr. Ekman has published many books on emotions, facial expressions and lie
detection includingUnmasking the Face: A Guide to Recognizing Emotions From
Facial Expressions and Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics,
and Marriage.

Micro-Expressions and Lying

Micro Expressions betray us when we lie. We can try to cover our feelings with fake
smiles, but involuntary face muscles reveal this hidden emotions. Seeing is easier,
watch this short video:

(More Micro Expression Video Links Below)

Paul Ekman and his research is the inspiration for the TV series "Lie to Me" .

Trained investigators, customs agents, etc. use micro expression recognition along
with other body language & speech cues (see distancing language for an example) to
determine truthfulness.

While most people can be trained to recognize micro expressions and other deceptive
cues, some folks are naturals. Ekman calls them "Truth Wizards" .

Latest Micro Expression Research & Training

Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. David Matsumoto created METT, an online micro expression
training tool. METT and METT2 are being discontinued, but both Ekman and
Matsumoto have developed their own micro expression training software available on
their respective sites. (listed below).

Dr. Mark Frank, a former student of Ekman's, continues work on deception and micro
facial movement research. Frank identified specific and sometimes involuntary
movements of the 44 human facial muscles linked to fear, distrust, stress and other
emotions related to deception. Frank's work is being tested for it's use in anti-
terrorism investigations. (see press release )
My Opinion
Another important thing to remember about micro-expressions is that they only
show what someone is feeling...not whether they lying per-se, and not what they are
thinking. The micro-expression only tells you their knee-jerk emotional state. (in my
opinion).
I believe (with no proof or scientific basis) that micro-expressions can also reveal
emotions that are unconscious or only partially related to whatever is being talk
about.

In other words, just because someone says "that's awesome!" and flashes a brief
micro-expression of contempt ... doesn't necessarily mean they are lying about their
feelings.... just that there is something about the subject that "bugs" them (and they
may not even know it bothers them).

So, you show your friend Sarah a picture of your new dog. She looks at you and says
"wow, really cute", but you catch a micro-expression glimpse of "disgust". I believe it
would be presumptuous to take this as a sign that Sarah thinks your puppy is ugly.
She may have been bit by a dog in the past, and that emotion briefly flashed across
her face when she looked at the pic of your dog.

( I'm just cautioning readers who can see micro-expressions from simplifying and
presuming too much -- human thoughts and emotions are complicated! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXm6YbXxSYk&feature=player_embedded
Detecting Deception Using Statement Analysis®
How People's Words Betray Them

By Mark McClish - StatementAnalysis.com

Introduction by Blifaloo: I am super excited to introduce my readers interested in lie

detection to "Statement Analysis®" -- a technique used by police and other
investigators to determine the truthfulness of written or spoken words.

Guest author Mark McClish is a well-respected retired Deputy United States Marshal,
and an expert in interviewing techniques. You'll find more info & links about his
research at the end of this article.

Intro to Statement Analysis

Statement Analysis is the process of analyzing a person’s words to determine if the
subject is being truthful or deceptive. The reason these techniques work is because
people’s words will betray them.

There are usually several ways you can phrase a statement. People will always word
their statement based on all their knowledge. Therefore, their statement may include
information they did not intend to share.

It is nearly impossible to give a lengthy deceptive statement without revealing it is a

lie.

The Statement Analysis techniques are very accurate because they are based on the
English language specifically word definitions and the rules of grammar. For
example, when a person states, “I am trying to be honest” he is telling us he is not
being honest. The word “tried” means he is only attempting to be truthful. When a
rape victim uses the pronoun “we” in her statement she is revealing she is being
deceptive. The pronoun “we” not only shows plurality but it also means a partnership
was formed. We would not expect a rape victim to partner up with her attacker.
When a person uses phrases such as “later on” or “afterwards” he has withheld some
information by skipping over something in his story.

An example of utilizing the rules of grammar would be to analyze the verb tenses in
a statement. When a person is telling us what happened, he is required to speak in
the past tense. Therefore, if present tense language appears in his statement, this is
a sign he is making up the story. Consider the following statement:

“I was sitting in my car when a man opened my door,

pointed a gun at me and tells me to get out.”

While the person starts out using past tense language, he switches to present tense
language with the word “tells.” The present tense language is an indication he is not
drawing his story from memory.

Another example of using the rules of grammar to detect deception is how a person
uses articles within his statement. When we introduce someone or something that is
unknown, we are required to use the indefinite articles “a” or “an.” Once the
introduction has been made, we then use the definite article “the.” We see this in the
following statement:

“A man approached me and pointed a gun at me.

He stuck the gun in my ribs and forced me into the car.”

In the first sentence, the victim properly refers to the attacker and
the weapon as “a man” and “a gun.” Having identified the gun, he then correctly
refers to it as “the gun” in the second sentence. A problem arises when he refers to
the vehicle as “the car.” Since this is the first time he mentions the vehicle, he
should have called it “a car.” Using the article “the” tells us the victim either
recognized the car or he is making up the story.

Many times the truth goes unnoticed because people like to interpret what a person
has said. However, you should never interpret. First, one cannot read someone else’s
mind. Secondly, people mean exactly what they are saying.

We see a good example of this with O.J. Simpson’s so called suicide letter. This was
the letter that was discovered when Simpson failed to turn himself into the police.
The letter starts out saying, “First everyone understand, I had nothing to do with
Nicole’s murder.” That is how you heard it read on television. That is how you saw it
printed in the newspapers and magazines. The problem is that is not what Simpson
wrote. In his letter, he crossed out the words “I had.” His letter actually reads, “First
everyone understand, nothing to do with Nicole’s murder.”

He took himself out of the denial.

So, why do most people include the words “I had?” Most likely because they believe
this is what Simpson meant. However, people mean exactly what they say or in this
case write. Simpson meant to cross out those words.

By using the Statement Analysis techniques, you can determine exactly what people
are telling you. This allows you to obtain additional information that sometimes goes
unnoticed. These techniques will also show you if they are lying or telling the truth.

WARNING!

The techniques contained in this book are used by lie detectionprofessionals,

including law enforcement officials and lawyers, all overthe world. They are also
backed up by decades of research. Whenapplied correctly, the techniques will give
you a statistical advantage indetermining whether or not someone is lying. No
technique ormachine, however, can conclusively determine whether deception
ispresent. You should therefore always proceed with caution beforereaching the
conclusion that someone is lying.The Black Book of Lie
Detectionwww.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089
info@investigationsystem.com

2Table of Contents1. We all want to be lie

detectors......................................................................... 32. Types of liars and
degrees of lying.................................................................... 33. You need to be
cautious!................................................................................... 54. Factors
influencing detection accuracy ............................................................. 55.
Setting the
scene............................................................................................... 76. Your
body wants to confess .............................................................................. 87.
Eye think you are lying to
me ............................................................................98. Time to face the
truth ...................................................................................... 109. Listen like a
lawyer .......................................................................................... 11© 2009
by Martin SoorjooCopyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons
License, Attribution 3.0.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/usThe Black
Book of Lie Detectionwww.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089
info@investigationsystem.com3

1. We all want to be lie detectors“There are lies, damned lies and statistics” - Mark
TwainThe ability to detect when someone is lying is a skill that fascinates us all. On
the quiet, manyof us like to think of ourselves as amateur lie detectors. And there is
good reason for ourdesire to want to know when lies are being told. Truth and lies
are at the core of all ourrelationships: parents and children, wives and husbands,
employers and employees and lawenforcement officials and criminals.A lot may ride
on being able to detectwhether or not someone is telling the truth.Relationships end
because of suspicion of infidelity. Innocent people go to prison because a police
officer, prosecutor and jury thought the suspect was lying.Children are abducted
because parents didnot detect that a pedophile was talking to their child through an
online chat room. And innocent people die in terrorist attacks because intelligence
officers did not pick up on the fact that the guy they interviewed six months ago,
was lying when he denied being involved with a terrorist group.

This e-book will dispel the myths and misunderstandings that surround lie detection.
Contrary to misinformation spread across the internet by professional liars, lie
detection is not easy nor is it full proof. Professionals get it wrong all the time.
Polygraph tests are not infallible but are in fact at best only 60-80% reliable.
Through the consistent application of the techniques contained in this e -book, you
can however, give yourself a significant statistical advantage in detecting whether or
not someone is telling the truth. You will learn effective lie detection techniques used
by law enforcement agencies, attorneys and other truth seeking professionals.
Sometimes this can be useful and dare I say it, even fun! You will learn how to check
yourself before you begin to question someone you think maybe lying. You will learn
why how you approach your `suspect' is critical. Why first building rapport is
essential and what body language and facial expression cues mean and whether or
not the eyes really are windows to the truth.

2. Types of liars and degrees of lying “Beware: some liars tell the truth” –
Arab ProverbHave you ever lied? Was it a big lie? Did it make you a bad person? Do
you feel guilty when you do it? Truth is, most of us lie some of the time. Sometimes
we lie to protect the feelings of someone we care about e.g. not telling your best
friend she looks really rough when she is about to go out on a date. Sometimes we
tell `white lies' because it's easier to do so rather than telling truth and there's no
harm done. James Patterson, author of The DayAmerica ToldThe Black Book of Lie
Detection www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089
info@investigationsystem.com

4 the Truth interviewed more than 2000 Americans and found that 91%
regularly lied at work and home. It matters why someone lies. We will nearly always
forgive the person who lied out of kindness. We will sometimes forgive the person
who lied where there are no negative consequences. We will even forgive a President
who lied about an affair to the nation on

camera. But we will rarely forgive the person who lied for self gain at the expense of
others.

Motive also matters to the liar. A person who believes they have a moral justification
for their

lie, will find it easier to deceive a truth seeker. A person who stands to lose much if
their lie is

exposed, has a greater incentive to successfully lie, but will experience greater
pressure at

the same time which may `leak' out in their verbal or nonverbal communication.

We start lying when we are children. It sometimes helps us get what we want.
Sometimes it

gets us in trouble. Most of us learn that generally speaking, lying is not a good thing
and we

tell the truth most of the time. But some people develop the belief that lying helps us
get more

of what we want. So they do it all of the time. Lying becomes something done
naturally.

And then when we become adults, some of us graduate from being natural liars to

professional liars. Professional liars lie for a specific purpose; usually self gain.
Otherwise

known as con artists, professional liars often prey on the vulnerable in our society.

When you are trying to detect whether someone is lying, it matters greatly what
type of liar

you are dealing with. As with all things, practice makes perfect. Generally, the more

experienced the liar, the harder their lies are to detect.

I did not have sexual relations Burglary?

Trust us, Iraq has WMD s It wasn’t me!The Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

3. You need to be cautious!

“A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity”- Baltasar Gracian

Because it is so difficult to read deception, it is very easy to make mistakes when

trying to
work out whether or not someone is lying. Although Polygraphs are only accurate in
detecting

lies 6o-8o% of the time (dependant on the skill of the operator), people are mostly
only

accurate 5o% of the time. And this statistic applies to many `experts' including law

enforcement officials.

People often mistake physical manifestations of stress as being indicators of lies

being told.

This sometimes happens to innocent people standing trial in a criminal case for a
crime they

didn't commit. The irony is the guilty defendant will have had plenty of time,
sometimes years,

to rehearse their lie. The innocent person will not have rehearsed because they are
telling the

truth and are scared because they have a lot to lose.

No single behavior is a reliable indicator of deception. So don't assume that because

the

person looks away when you are talking to them, they are lying about something.
You need

to look for clusters or groupings of deception indicators.

Cultural context is particularly important. While there are some universal behaviors
that cross

culture, ethnicity and nationality, there are some gestures that have a positive
meaning within

one society and a negative meaning in another. Your chances of accurately

determining

whether or not someone is lying, increase if you are from the same cultural and
social group

And then there is you. What biases and prejudices do you have? What
preconceptions do

you harbor and myths do you believe? There is much statistical evidence which
demonstrates

that police officers are more likely to question and arrest a person who has an ethnic
minority

background because of preconceptions and prejudices they have about the particular
ethnic
group.

Checklist

• What is the true basis for your suspicion?

• What biases, prejudices and preconceptions do you harbor towards the suspect?

• What motive might the suspect have for lying?

• Is the suspect an experienced liar?

• How skilled and experienced are you at detecting lies?

"People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to"

Malcolm Muggeridge

4. Factors influencing detection accuracy

“A half-truth is a whole lie” – Yiddish Proverb

It will be easier for you to detect whether or not your `suspect is lying if one or more
of the

following factors are present:

1. The lie is concerned with an issue that the suspect has strong emotions about.The
Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

2. The suspect has not anticipated they will be questioned about lying and has not
had

time to prepare.

3. You have a close relationship with the suspect.

4. The suspect trusts you.

5. There will be an amnesty for the suspect if they confess.

6. The suspect has to invent a fictitious account rather than simply withhold
information.

Commission rather than omission.

7. You and your suspect come from similar cultural and national backgrounds.

"The naked truth is always better than the best dressed lie" Ann Landers

If you want to increase your chances of getting to the truth, then you need to use all
of your

senses. In his landmark research, Professor Albert Mehrabian established that 55%
of our
messages are communicated through our physical behavior and appearance, 38%
from the

sound of our voice, while only 7% of what we actually say, has any impact.

So if you want to accurately interpret the veracity of what your suspect is telling you,
you

need to adopt a holistic approach to lie detection. This means closely observing your

suspect's body language and facial expressions. Listening carefully to how they are
speaking,

focusing on their pitch and tone. And looking for inconsistencies and discrepancies in
the

account they are giving.

Because no single behavior can be relied on as an accurate indicator of deception,

experienced lie detectors look for `clusters' of signals. A change in a person's

physical

behavior, coupled with a raising in the pitch of their voice mayindicate stress, which
may

indicate deception. The more you develop your observation skills the better a lie
detector you

will become. The best lie detectors are always those with the highest levels of
sensory acuity.

There are many steps you can take to develop your lie detection skills. Once you
have read

this book and learned how to interpret the signals, start people-watching. Do it in a
restaurant

or public place where you can hear what people are saying. Look at how they use
gestures

and their body to support what they are saying. Observe their facial expressions.

Watch video clips on YouTube of politicians and celebrities that are believed to be
lying.

Listen for the vocal indicators and look for the physical signals. And if you are
watching a clip

where it is widely believed that the person lied, watch with volume turned off. And
then

reverse things and listen to the liar without looking at the picture.

Arm yourself with as much information about your suspect and alleged deception
before you
talk to them. Their personality and reputation, history and track record, the context
at the time

they are alleged to lie, possible motivations. Lawyers and investigators often try to
avoid

questioning a witness or suspect without knowing the suspect's background first. The
more

you know, the more accurate you are likely to be in detecting lies.The Black Book of
Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

5. Setting the scene

“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

Abraham Lincoln

In addition to taking the steps outlined in the previous chapter, your lie detection
efforts will be

more successful if you apply the following rules each time you suspect someone of
lying and

want to establish the truth:

1. Where possible and practical, try to avoid alerting the person that you suspect
them of

lying. Innocent people become defensive when accused of lying and will exhibit
stress

signs through their nonverbal and vocal cues, which can be mistaken for lie cues.

2. Try to get your suspect to relax at the outset. Avoid going straight to the
deception

issue and try to encourage them to lower their guard.

3. Establishing rapport will cause your suspect to relax and trust you. Salespeople
and

other influence professionals understand the importance of establishing rapport and

frequently use it in their communication. In short, you establish rapport by subtly

matching the other person's body language, pace, pitch and tone of voice. Talk to
them

about something they are interested in and that you know something about.

4. Rapport is so effective because of a fundamental principle of human nature, which

is
that people like people like themselves. We easily fall into rapport with people we
like

and are close to. When people have rapport you will notice that they are sitting or

standing in virtually identical positions. If you want to learn more about building
rapport

you may want to download The Black Book of Persuasion which covers this subject

and many other effective persuasion and influence techniques.

5. Taking the above steps will make it easier for you to establish a baseline for the

suspect's behavior i.e. how they normally behave when they are not undergoing

questioning about an alleged deception. When you start to ask difficult, probing

questions you will be able to more accurately measure and monitor behavioral

changes.

“We have ways of making you talk!”The Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

6. Your body wants to confess

“I am not smart enough to lie.” – Ronald Regan

Whilst a person has a relatively high degree of control over what they say, their body

language will tell an observer many things, without them realizing or intending this
to happen.

Very few people are conscious of the messages they continually send out through
their body

language and even fewer know how to control these messages.

Children will frequently use hand to face / hand to mouth gestures when they tell a
lie. As

they grow up the use of the hand gestures becomes less frequent and pronounced.

Body language gives away the emotions we are experiencing. The ability to read
body

language is therefore a powerful tool for detecting deception. When people are lying
they

usually feel some discomfort or stress which manifests itself through body cues.

The most important movements and gestures to watch are those given at the time of
the
critical questions being asked. Bear in mind that behaviors which manifest
themselves during

questioning, may simply be an innocent person's reaction to the stress of being

questioned;

particularly if they have a lot to lose if disbelieved.

Ultimately, you will have to make a judgment, looking at behavioral indicators along
with eye

cues, verbal cues and the consistency and credibility of the answers given. You will
observe

more nonverbal deception cues if you and the suspect talk whilst standing. The more
clusters

of deception indicators you are able to observe, the more likely it is that your
suspect is lying.

The following behaviors when demonstrated in response to lie probing questions are

consistent, but not by themselves, determinative of deception.

1. The suspect nods or shakes their head in a manner inconsistent with the answer
they

have given i.e. when asked whether they stole the handbag the suspect says `no'
but

shakes his head up and down in an affirmative manner. As remarkable as this may

seem, it is not uncommon for people to give a physical indication that is the
complete

opposite to their verbal answer. The physical indication is usually the truthful
answer.

2. The suspect rubs their forehead or strokes the back of their neck with their hand.

3. Delayed nodding in support of an answer they have just given. When people are
telling

the truth they will nod their head simultaneously with the statement they are
making.

When they are lying, there is often a delay between the statement and their head

nodding in support.

4. Perspiring, trembling and blushing.

5. Gulping or finding it difficult to swallow.

6. Touching their nose. Hirsch and Wolfe analyzed Bill Clinton's testimony to the
Grand
Jury over the Monica Lewinsky affair. They observed that when he was believed to be

lying, he touched his nose once every 4 minutes reaching a total of 26 times.
However,

during the straight forward parts of his evidence, he rarely touched his nose.The
Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

7. Placing of the hand near or over their mouth.

8. Rubbing the eye. This trait appears more in men than women.

9. Fidgeting, drumming fingers or rearranging themselves.

10. The suspect uses less emphasis when speaking. When people are speaking the
truth,

they naturally use physical gestures to support their verbal statements. Their eyes

wide, they lean forward towards you, raise their eyebrows, wave their arms and
gesture

with their hands. If you notice that your suspect is using less emphasis than normal

when answering key questions, this is indicative that they do not believe what they
are

saying.

11. Increased shuffling or moving of feet. This is more noticeable if you are both
standing.

When feeling emotional discomfort as a result of questioning, people tend to move

their

feet about.

12. Avoiding physical contact. When people lie, they will try to avoid physical contact
with

the person they are lying to. This will be more apparent if the two parties are in a
close

relationship and normally engage in physical contact when talking.

13. Placing objects between you and them when being questioned. When lying,
people will

often place objects between you and themselves in an attempt to create a barrier.
They

are usually not even conscious that they are doing this. If you are sitting at a table
across from each other, you may be onto something if the suspect starts to place
pens,

books, cups and bags between you both.

7. Eye think you are lying to me

“No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into

someone’s eyes.” – Paulo Coelho

Whist Coelho is a great author, his expression of the above popular myth is wrong.
Practiced

liars not only have the ability to look directly into someone's eyes whilst successfully
telling a

lie, many actually do it deliberately so as to prove they are telling the truth.

Conversely, looking away whilst talking to you does not mean your suspect is lying.
Innocent

people frequently look away when trying to clarify their thoughts. This is particularly
so in

circumstances where the suspect knows their interrogator.

The eyes can, however, still provide useful insights into whether or not your suspect
is lying.

An increased blink rate is often consistent with telling lies. On average people blink 6
-8

times per minute when not lying. When blinking at this rate their eyes remain closed
for

approximately 1/loth of a second.The Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

10

Pupil dilation is another reliable indicator of deception and is something that the liar
will not be

aware of or have the ability to control.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) provides a useful technique for detecting when

someone is recalling or creating a picture, sound or feeling. The technique involves

paying

close attention to a person's eye accessing cues. NLP research has established that

generally speaking:

1. When a person (right handed) is remembering something, their eyes will go up

and
towards the left.

2. If a person is constructing / inventing an image in their mind they will tend to look
up

and to the right.

3. If a person eyes go straight across to the left, this indicates they are recalling

something they heard.

4. If a person's eyes go across to the right, this indicates that they are imagining or

constructing a sound or sounds e.g. conversation.

The above works in reverse if the person is left -handed. You can easily test this
technique on

someone by asking them to remember something recent that you know they saw or
heard.

Then ask them to imagine something they haven't seen or heard before. Observe
closely and

you should be able to spot their eye accessing cues. As with all of the techniques in
this

book, you should treat your observations as indicators that go into the scales to be
weighed

along with other indicators you will have observed.

8. Time to face the truth

I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on, I can’t

believe you.” – Friederich Nietzsche

Facial expressions are the number one indicator of emotions. Paul Ekman is the
world's

leading authority on the interpretation of facial expressions and the scientific advisor
to the

popular Fox TV drama Lie to Me. Ekman has established that whenever we
experience an

emotion, it is automatically expressed by the facial muscles. This will often only be
for a

fraction of a second but is detectable with training or watching a slowed down video.
These

expressions are termed `micro expressions' and potentially provide us with the most
reliable

clues as to whether someone is lying.

As a result of decades of research, studying the facial expressions of people from all
over the

world including small tribes in remote lands, Ekman has identified the following
factors, that

when present, may be clues to deceit:

1. False smiles

2. Holding the smile too long

3. Mistakes in timing of expressions

4. Blushing

5. Asymmetry

Indeed, such is the level of interest in the ability to decode people's emotions by face
reading

that researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan are developing a facial

recognition

system for robots and artificial intelligence agents that analyses basic eye, nose and
mouth

movements. It is claimed the system will be able to detect if a person is telling a lie.
In trials in

which people played poker, the system has already proved to be as reliable as
humans

trained to detect lies.The Black Book of Lie Detection

www.investigationsystem.com Phone: 800-465-6089 info@investigationsystem.com

11

Recognizing micro expressions is perhaps the most difficult to learn of the lie
detection skills

contained in this book. Fortunately, Paul Ekman has developed an online facial
expression

recognition training tool that will help you develop your skills.

9. Listen like a lawyer

“Lying is done with words and also with silence” – Adrian Rich

Whilst it's important, that when you trying to detect whether someone is lying, you
read their

body language, eye cues and facial expressions; what the suspect says and how they
say it

may also provide you with valuable deception indicators.

The most effective interrogations are those where the interrogator approaches the

questioning neutrally. Whilst you may have your suspicions, you will be more
effective if the

suspect believes you are open minded and not accusing them. If they feel accused,
they will

become defensive and more difficult to read.

Where possible, try to allude to the issue rather than directly confront it. If the
suspect is not

being accused and does not having guilty knowledge, they should not start firing off
deception

signals.

The following verbal behaviors are consistent with, but not determinative of, deceit:

1. Vocal pitch increasing.

2. Increased use of pauses.

3. Speech errors.

4. Inconsistencies in the account.

When questioning your suspect ask, pause and observe. You need to give yourself a
chance

to observe the deception signals they may be giving as well as carefully formulate
your next

question.

Rather than make a direct accusation when your suspect appears to be giving
deception

signals, you should probe deeper with further questions. Request more detail but do
so in an

`interested' manner rather than accusatory. Lying about detail requires a lot of
thought and

concentration.

If the suspect has had little time to prepare, you will be more likely to uncover
inconsistencies

in their account. Ask your suspect to describe their account in reverse chronological
order. It

is much harder to describe a fabricated account in this way, than it is to recall and
describe a

truthful one.
One tactic used by professional lie detectors is to pretend they believe the suspect
and get

them to provide more information. With their guard down, the suspect is more likely
to trip up

and make a mistake.