An unfortunate trait of human nature is deception and lying. However, if you are aware of the tricks of how to train your mind in order to recognize when someone is lying to you, maybe you could use that to good advantage.
Of course, it is difficult to distinguish between the different behaviors when it comes to an individual being honest and lying. But we, in this article, take you down a little trip to understand how to trust your instincts and be able to recognize when someone is lying to you.
Basic Indications
Without getting into anything scientific, to understand how to recognize and differentiate between when someone is being honest to you and dishonest, you could look for these basic actions :
Vagueness
Mostly, those who tend to lie are also not very elaborate on what they are saying. That being said, they would intentionally leave out quite a few details.
Tense
If the particular individual seems to be overthinking about his story or does not seem quite calm and relaxed while narrating his version of the story.
Indifference
Showcasing a lack of interest or concern which could be a sign of avoiding any of his/her emotions overpowering his/ her lie.
Uncertainty
Being unsure or unclear of what needs to be said is another indication that the individual might be lying about something.
These are some of the communication and verbal skills of the individual that you could pick up on in order to recognize whether or not he/she is lying to you.
On the other hand, if you blatantly want to call them out on their lie, you could resort to the following tactics too :
Recall the Narration in Reverse
Research has suggested that by asking people to retell their stories in reverse order instead of repeating it, you would be able to spot the accuracy in how inauthentic their story was. Mental note to make – lying is more mentally exhausting than being truthful.
Trust your Instincts
You must learn to have faith in what your gut tells you. Reports around the world have come to a unique conclusion that many people have a rather intuitive and unconscious idea when someone is lying to them.
This is more helpful when you are familiar with an individual and understand the changes in their behavior.
Observe Facial Cues
Based on normal observance, people tend to look away when lying and this is an indication of them trying to think about what to say next. One is also likely to purse one’s lips when being asked on something they want to hide or lie about. In worse situations, a person who lies, his/her face could also turn completely pale whilst in other situations, one could notice perspiration on an individual’s forehead, upper lip and around the mouth of the individual who attempts to lie.
Content
Always wait to spot the “uhhs” and “umms” in an individual’s speech. Those who tend to use these phrases more often could be an indication of them lying. That being said, such phrases could be used as an excuse to buy more time to figure out what to speak next.
On the other hand, when someone speaks constantly, i.e., providing too much and unrelated information that was not asked for, there are high chances that they are hiding something.
Signs of Fidgeting
This is not very difficult to miss. Signs of rocking your body back and forth, playing with something on the table, shuffling your feet are all signs of being nervous and saying lies.
People tend to display such behaviors like playing with their hair or facing their palms while speaking when they are being dishonest.
Conclusion
To speak the truth, there is no straight jacket formula to recognizing in the moment when someone is lying to you. Based on many experiments, researchers around the world have concluded that based on the various characteristics, signs, behaviors, and other traits that are linked to lying are simply hints that might be an indicator of a person lying to you or not being straightforward with you.
However, with the given ways mentioned above, you could adopt in the moment of having a conversation or even in a group and recognize if a certain individual is lying about what he/she is speaking or not.
As said, your potential to recognize a liar also needs to be backed by your instinct of those around you.
Therefore, finally, and perhaps more importantly, trust your instincts. Learn to heed those gut feelings and try to gauge people better with their behavioral signs and verbal communication skills.
