Wouldn’t it be great if you could easily tell when someone lied to you. But it seems so impossible! Well, You don’t have to be a psychic or body language expert to know when someone is lying to you. Just watch out for some signs and you can easily figure out. Here are 10 signs that show someone is lying to you.
#1. Eyes darting back and forth
This is a habit humans developed early on when facing an animal adversary or another human and looking for an escape route. When people start doing this in front of you after you asked them a question, you know what they are saying isn’t half truth.
#2. Changing their head position quickly
Changing their head position happens right before a person is expected to respond to a question. He/she might retract or jerk his/her head back. Or the head maybe titled or cocked to one side.
#3. Breathing Changes
When someone is lying to you, their breathing will change. And when this happens, you will see their shoulders rising and their voice getting more shallow. This is because, they are getting out of breath due to changes in blood flow and blood rate. The same thing happens to people when they are nervous or tensed about something which may lead them to lie.
#4. Rapid blinking
A person usually blinks once every 10-12 seconds making it about 5-6 times in a minute. But when someone is stressed or know they are lying, they are likely to blink more, maybe 5-6 times successively. Another thing that they might do is that they might close their eyes for about one or two seconds. This is a kind of defense mechanism where people try to block out the fact that they are lying.
#5. Looking up to their right
A normal right-handed person will look up and then towards left if you ask him something that he is supposed to recall from his memory. However, if he looks up and then towards right, he is basically using his imagination and inventing an answer. This is opposite in case of left-handed people. Most people will usually stare straight ahead when they are trying to recall a visual memory.
#6. Repetition of words or phrases
People will often repeat certain phrases when they are lying as they are trying to validate what they are saying not just to you but to themselves as well. However, this technique can also buy them some time to come up with something more innovative.
#7. Touching or covering their mouth
As kids, we would cover our mouths while lying. The same habit develops into something more subtle. Instead of directly covering their mouths, liars tend to touch their mouth occasionally while lying. This includes hands over lips or touching the chin or corners of the mouth. This is a way of shutting down the communication.
#8. Covering vulnerable body parts
People will often cover their vulnerable areas when they lie as a defense mechanism. This includes their neck, chest and abdomen. Men can often be found adjusting their tie or touching their collars when they lie.
#9. Shuffling Feet
This is when their basic instinct to run away takes over. Liars will often start shuffling their feet indicating they would rather be somewhere else instead of answering your questions.
#10. Not blinking at all
It is common knowledge that people don’t maintain eye contact when they lie. So, liars often do excess eye contact to avoid that trap but instead stare at you without blinking much, this too, is a telltale sign.