How to spot a liar (thanks to Serenity Magnet)

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.

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.

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.
• A true smile uses the muscles around the eyes as well and the mouth, it will cause the eyes to squit, a fake smile only uses the muscles of the mouth

Stress and anxiety
A liar is stressed during and shortly after a lie so watch for body language changes. Sudden changes in body language indicates stress. Often the stressful body language is self-comforting gestures with the hands, such as rubbing the nose or scratching the face and body. Also frequently the palms of the hands are suddenly hidden from view.

What to watch for when a person is lying to you when face-to-face

-Voice is higher pitched.
-Untrue answers to questions are slightly delayed.
-Body and face become stiffer.
-Hand-to-face touching increased, especially nose rubbing and mouth covering.
-Face and hands becomes a bit paler as blood is withheld from extremities. (A sign of high stress.)
-Nostrils may open wider ('flare').
-Breathing deeper and maybe audible.
-Lips become thinner and tighter.
-Shoulders pulled up and elbows pulled in to sides more. Body takes up less space.
-Forehead tightens up a little in area between eye brows.
-Eye contact breaks away from you and eyes may squint or close.
-Heart rate increases.
-Hand palms turned down or closed, and not revealed to you.

The best overall liar detection clue
A sudden change in posture and movements from the normal patterns for a short time until you have accepted what is said. If you believe someone is lying, change the subject quickly and watch their reactions. A liar will follow along willingly and become more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject changed but an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change and will want to go back to the previous subject.

Language of deception
A deceptive body is concerned about being found out and this concern may show in the following ways...

Anxiety
A deceptive person is typically anxious that they might be found out (unless they are psychopathic or good at acting), so they may send signals of tension. This may include sweating, sudden movements, minor twitches of muscles (especially around the mouth and eyes), changes in voice tone and speed.
These signals are almost impossible to stop as we start them very young.

Control
In order to avoid being caught, there may be various signs of over-control. For example, there may be signs of attempted friendly body language, such as forced smiles (mouth smiles but eyes do not), jerky movements and clumsiness or oscillation between open body language and defensive body language.
The person may also try to hold their body still, to avoid tell-tale signals. For example they may hold their arms in or put their hands in their pockets.

Distracted
A person who is trying to deceive needs to think more about what they are doing, so they may drift off or pause as they think about what to say or hesitate during speech.
They may also be distracted by the need to cover up. Thus their natural timing may go astray and they may over- or under-react to events.

6 key traits of lying
1. Anxiety may be displaced into actions such as fidgeting, moving around the place or paying attention to unusual places.
2. Face touching
3. Suddenly changes the position of his or her arms or legs like crossing arms over chest or crossing legs
4. Shifts eyes away or do the opposite and stare excessively
5. Pitch or speed of the voice changes and/ or uses "mmmm" or "ahh"
6. Responds with hostility, indignation or turns it around by asking questions