How to Tell if Someone is Lying

Pinocchio was a fictional character who told untruthful stories quite often; each time he did, his nose would grow. Like Pinocchio, humans lie frequently. Although noses do not grow, there are other indications that tell if someone is being dishonest. Being able to tell if someone is deceitful is not easy, but sources say it is possible. To see if one is lying a person can study background details and information, facial clues, body language, statistics, a case study, emotional gestures, remarks or statements, and speech habits. Some say that these non-verbal cues are untrue and do not work, but collected research points out the truth in identifying deception.

While lie detection through non-verbal cues is not a new study, it is effective, sources say. To clearly understand the concept, one must first view some background details and information. John R. Ellement bring attention to the fact that the cues let off from lying come forward because, “lying takes more mental effort then telling the truth, emotions give people away when lying, and lying causes more stress and anxiety” (npa). By saying this, Ellement is indicating that, due to all the work put into lying, the non-verbal cues should be very easy to spot and happen often. Mark McClish states in his article, “How to Detect Lies,” that, “…just because someone exhibits one or more of these signs does not make them a liar. The above behaviors should be compared to a person’s base (normal) behavior whenever possible” (1). Even if a person does express these behaviors, it could just mean he or she is nervous or uncomfortable in the current situation. Knowing how to spot a liar can be very helpful to managers, detectives, and teachers. It can also assist in fighting scams and fr...

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... the other hand, an innocent person will want to go back and prove his or her innocence. Liars are likely to add unnecessary details to their stories and also take his or her story into religion by saying, “I swear to God,” sources say. It has also been researched that when a person drastically changes pitch in speech, he or she could also be lying.

Being deceptive, many feel, is a habit that everyone picks up on at a young age; as he or she gets older, the lies get bigger. After extensive research one can see that lying can be spotted by studying background details and information, facial clues, body language, statistics, emotional gestures, remarks or statements, and speech habits. Fredrich Nietzsche sums up the art of reading body language to tell if one is lying by saying, “One may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth”(npa).