Birds of a Writer: Liar Lair! Pants of Fire! (Interesting Facts- Lying).

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Liar Lair! Pants of Fire! (Interesting Facts- Lying).

People lie all the time and it can be useful to know how to tell if someone is lying or not. When we're writing, our characters often will tell or want to know when someone is lying. And so, here's some tips!

Body Language

Physical expression might be stiff and few.
Doesn't make eye contact
Hands often touch a familiar place where your eyes often look, like their face, throat, or mouth. Sometimes playing with jewelry can show nervousness, indicating a lie.

Emotional Gestures and Contradiction

The timing and duration of emotions are off. It is delayed, stays longer, and then is gone as quickly as it came.
Timing is off between expressions and words.
Expressions don't match their words.
Is uncomfortable during pauses in the conversation.

Interactions/Reactions

A guilty person will get defensive while innocent people will do the opposite.
The person accused might turn their head or body away; they might look at something else.
Places objects between themselves and the person they're talking to.
Watch other people's reactions to see if they are buying their story.

Verbal Cues

Will throw the person's words back at them.
Avoid making direct statements.
Speak more than they normally do.
Speak as little as possible.
Repeat questions because it gives them time to think of an answer.
Slow down their speech to think of what to say next and when they have it, speak faster.

Tips to see if someone's really lying:

Have them tell their story backwards, from what happened last to the beginning.
Have them repeat their story.
Ask open-ended questions.
Change the subject of the conversation quickly, a liar will become more relaxed and go along with it. While an innocent person will become confused and wonder why the topic was switched.

Keep in mind...