Excessive movement may occur as a result of anxiety experienced by a dishonest person. Think of fidgeting or antsy behavior as a potential sign of lying. A closed-off stance, such as arms folded across the chest and/or crossed legs, may be a sign that an individual is lying.
Nonverbal cues are clues of deceit that are expressed through facial expressions, eye movements, and body language. Verbal cues are linguistic clues of deceit that are expressed in an individual's statement, such as stuttering, differentiation in pitch, etc.
People lying about transgressions look more nervous than do truth tellers; they also blink more and have a faster speech rate. Additionally, they are more inhibited than truth tellers in the sense that they move their feet and legs less often.
Eyes and mouth give it away
Eyes darting back and forth and them looking away from you during a crucial moment is one thing. Also make sure to keep your own eyes on their mouth for any sign of lip quivering or teeth biting in a nervous matter which could indicate a falsehood in what they're telling you.
Itching and fidgeting: Rocking the body back and forth, cocking the head to the side or shuffling the feet can also be signs of deception, says Glass, who completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA focusing on Psychology and Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication.
Look for flared nostrils, lip biting, rapid blinking or sweating. These changes in facial activity signify an increase in brain activity as a lie begins. Some people will get a slight flush to their face when they are lying, so look for blushed cheeks as anxiety may set in.
Posture and movement can tell you how someone is feeling. For example, an arm-crossed posture sends the message that you are not open to new ideas or solutions. Or, the leg-crossed posture is known as a posture of defiance and defensiveness.
Signs of Lying
A few of the potential red flags that might indicate that people are deceptive include: Being vague; offering few details. Repeating questions before answering them. Speaking in sentence fragments.
A liar may avoid giving specific details of a situation and respond in short, uninformative answers. Contrary to popular belief, liars may also fidget less and look at you directly when lying. They may also repeat your question before answering it, so that they have more time to think.
Nonverbal indicators of involvement and immediacy are positively associated with trust, specifically, (1) High amounts of gaze, (2) direct facing, (3) forward lean, (4) rapid speech, (5) short response latencies, (6) fluent speech, and (7) long turns-at-talk.
Pay attention to what they are saying. Phrases like “honestly,” “I want to be honest with you,” or “here's the truth” can all be signs that the liar is trying too hard to convince the other person that they are telling the truth. Using buffer words such as “like” and “um” can indicate lying.
Fear microexpressions: Microexpressions are brief, involuntary facial expressions that give away a person's true emotions. Liars are often afraid of being caught, so they may express fear through small movements, like raising their eyebrows or wrinkling their forehead.
The direction of their eyes: A 2012 study published in Plos One debunked the myth people look to the left when lying. A study by the University of Michigan found when participants lied, they maintained eye contact 70% of the time.
There are many signs someone could be lying. For example, one may make too little or too much eye contact, sweat or flush in their face, fidget or enact unusual gestures, have trouble maintaining normal speech patterns, and have difficulty controlling the volume and tone of their voice.
Eye contact
This is one of the most powerful examples of nonverbal communication. Eye contact can tell the other person you are engaged and interested in what they have to say.
Negative body language is either a conscious or unconscious expression of sadness, anger, nervousness, impatience, boredom, or lack of confidence.
Some people may get angry when they are caught lying, due to the feeling of being exposed. When someone is caught in a lie, their initial reaction may be one of anger and embarrassment.
A narcissistic liar is a person who lies to get what they want. They are often charming and persuasive. But their primary goal is always self-promotion. They want to present themselves in a certain light and believe they can get away with it.