Investigation and Lie Detection

“The liar was the hottest to defend his veracity, the coward his courage, the ill-bred his gentlemanliness, and the cad his honor.” 
― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

There is a great deal of literature available to help determine whether someone you are speaking with, perhaps during an investigation, or during a game of poker, is lying to you. What follows are some of the “tells” the trained eye will look for:

• Eye contact avoidance.
• Liars use less hands and arms. Often on their lap, folded, closed body posture.
• Palms down on the table or clenched.
• Arms and legs crossed.
• Touching face, playing with hair.
• Partial shrug.
• Inconsistent words, gestures, and emotions.
• What was the initial reaction?
• Timing of gestures.
• The surprise wears off quickly.
• The tight smile; the small smile.
• Head moves mechanically.
• The guilty usually go on the defensive; the honest on the offensive.
• The head shifts.
• Slumped posture.
• Liars generally won’t touch you or point fingers.
• Liars feel the need to give a lot of details.
• Liars often repeat the question to gain time.
• Liars use your words.
• The Freudian slip.
• Discomfort with silence.
• The guilty usually engage in body “awayness.” They will put up barriers.
• Guilty people try too hard to convince. “I would never…”, “I wouldn’t lie,” “To tell you the truth…”
• “I need time to think.”
• They look to be relieved that the questioning is over.
• Look for the out of left field response
• They make an effort to change the subject.
• The guilty will engage in moral superiority.
• They will answer the question with a statement first.

When you are hot on the liar’s trail, you can say things like:

• Let them know the advantages of coming clean.
• On a scale of 1-10 where might you fit in …
• What else could you have done?
• Talk about it as if it is already an established fact.
• Stare at them and be silent. Give them a reason to tell the truth.
• Ask them if “this is the whole story?”
• I know this happened… what I want to know is what your intentions were?
• Was this an innocent mistake or a calculated effort?
• Expand their statement.
• I know there are two sides to every story…

Liars feast off of amateurs, which is one reason I don’t play poker, and a good reason for you to hire a pro when dealing with workplace investigations!