Comparison between Liars and Truth-Tellers

Lying

 Spend more time thinking than just relying on memory to answer questions

Are more likely to touch their body as they are stressed and anxious

Are likely to have less eye contact (feeling guilty) or more eye contact (needing to over compensate).

Appear observant, watching you closely to see if you have accepted their statements

May unconsciously adopt a defensive body posture to protect themselves

May talk less (to give less detail) or talk a lot more (to fill the gap and confuse)

May use more frequent filler words such as “Ah” and “Em” while thinking

Keep repeating questions to gain time so they can think

Are likely to use long pauses to force the other person to talk

Are likely to dodge sensitive questions and aim to shift the conversation to a different topic

Telling the Truth

 Are quick to answer

Have a comfortable posture and seem to be at ease to talk about the topic

Talk at their normal speed, without rushing or feeling the need to pause and think hard

Show their palms and have a generally open posture

Seem to be happy to stay on a topic and talk about it as required

Jayadeva de Silva for Humantalents International