An FBI-trained body language expert who a knack for sussing out fibbers has revealed the obvious signs that someone is lying to you.
Scott Taylor, who has had a 30-year career in security, spent years training in ‘facial micro-expressions, deception detection, influential behaviours, and statement and word analysis’.
He's also worked with the lead interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, so we're inclined to trust him when he says he can spot a liar.
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According to Scott, there are a few different 'cues' that can indicate someone is telling fibs, but there are some specific behaviours that are perhaps the most obvious.
Fast blinking
If you've ever spotted someone rapidly blinking, they could be telling porkies.
Speaking about the behaviour, Scott told Femail: "We blink 12 to 14 blinks per minute, and people under stress and duress, their blink rate spikes."
Although previous research has indicated the opposite, apparently people blink more straight after they've told the lie.
So it's worth keeping an eye on how their eyes behave after the lie has been told, rather than before.
Lip licking
Lip licking is a major sign that someone is not being truthful, Scott explains.
"When people lie we release cortisol, the stress hormone, and it dries out our mouth and slows down our saliva," says Scott.
Hard swallowing
Hard swallowing can also be a major indication that you're being lied to.
For the same reason as above, swallowing can be more difficult when our mouths are dry.
Scott says the behaviour is often subconscious and people often also 'touch along the lines of their face’ when they are lying.
Protecting certain areas
You also might notice fibbers protecting certain areas of their body too, such as the chin, stomach and groin.
"They dip their chin or angle their body slightly away to remove your access to that ventral area so that becomes quite obvious once you look for that," Scott adds.
Forced language
Scott also explained that fibbers often use forced language when they're trying to conceal a lie.
"Truth tellers convey and liars convince, so you don’t need to say, 'I’m 100% definite' or 'certain' if you are definite or certain," Scott explains.
"These people are selling not telling, so they give you additional filler or additional eye contact because they think, 'I want to be more convincing'."
Other tell-tale signs
- Touching their face
- Angling their body away
- Dipping their chin
- Flushing or blushing
- Lip compression and pulling
- Changing eye movements
- Assuming language like ‘you know’ or ‘obviously’
- Overly convincing language, like ‘certain’, ‘definite’, or ‘100%’
- Expanded contractions, such as ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t’
We'll be keeping an eye out for these...
Lucy Devine