“Leader – New Body Language Detection Advice – Do You Know How To Spot Lies Better” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“When people lie, their body language exposes it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

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As a leader in today’s challenging environments, reading body language gives you an advantage. It helps you detect deceitful people telling lies.

This episode will help you spot lies while delivering insights about body language gestures to observe. The knowledge you obtain will also help you become a better leader and improve your ability to read body language.  

Possible Body Language Deception Gestures

Identifying deceptive body language starts with awareness of someone’s current gestures versus their normal/baseline behaviors. The following are a few signs that may indicate dishonesty. Never rely on one gesture alone to make your assessment. Instead, look for a cluster of actions – that will serve as confirmation.

1. Self-soothing gestures:

• Face touching
• Hand/neck/leg rubbing
• Mouth covering

2. Eye movement:

• Eye avoidance or intense staring
• Blinking rate increase or decrease

3. Facial Cues:

• Displays of micro-expressions (facial emotional displays lasting less than a second) 

4. Misaligned gestures and words:

• gestures offbeat or occurring slightly after someone speaks

5. Constant body repositioning:

• Body shifted/slanted away from discussion
• Pointless body movements

6. Impatience and physical barriers:

• Tapping feet
• Constant fidgeting

• Using objects as barriers (i.e., eyeglasses, pens, etc.)

7. Vocal alterations:

• Voice alterations between tonality, pace of speech, and pitch range
 

Leader, reminder: To assess the degree to which someone may be lying, note their baseline body language when they are at ease. Compare the above gestures to that baseline to evaluate if they are being deceitful.

Ways to Detect, Assess, and Address Deception

Suspicion may first come as a feeling that someone is being untruthful. Do not ignore that sensation. Your intuitiveness may be reckoning what you heard and the body language disputing someone’s words. That is the time to heighten your awareness. How?

1. Create baseline: I have already mentioned the importance of establishing someone’s baseline. Observe the person’s normal behavior when they are relaxed. That will allow you to form a comparison to gather deviations as you move forward.

2. Ask open and closed-ended questions: At the first point of suspicion, consider posing open-ended questions to the suspected liar (e.g., Tell me more?) After gathering more details about the situation, you may recite some with slight modifications. Note to what degree that person offers corrections and the body language accompanying them.

The person may be truthful if their body language is open and relaxed (e.g., hands apart, turned upwards, arms uncrossed). If you are not 100% sure, ask for detailed information. If they offer protestations and display signs of defensiveness (e.g., crossed arms, hands/arms close to their body, etc.), ask closed-end questions (e.g., Did you just cross your arms when I asked you that?) Let them speak – do not interrupt even if there is silence. At that point, you will be turning up the heat.

3. Observe altering body language behavior: When people lie and know they are lying, their body language will exhibit soothing signs or signals to cover the lie they are telling. They may display signs mentioned, such as rubbing their hands or neck or covering their mouth. It is also worth noting if someone believes what they are saying to be truthful, they may not display such signals.  

Awareness Concerns of Body Language Interpretation

Body language offers insights into someone’s inner thoughts when they lie. Nevertheless, everyone, including leaders, must be mindful that cultural differences can dictate actions based on people’s cultural backgrounds. Thus:

1. Stereotyping: Just because someone is from a particular background, a leader should not assign false body language attributions to that individual based on that. To do so could mean misreading signals. Again, that is why establishing someone’s baseline per how they use their body in typical and non-typical situations is so valuable.

2. Situational Awareness: Some people naturally become nervous in specific situations (e.g., being called into the boss’ office when that is usually not so). During such occurrences, a person may be nervous and display signs that the leader may interpret as lying.

During such times, the individual should be allowed to become comfortable in the environment. A leader’s tone of voice, smile, etc., can promote comfort. Before continuing, ensure the other person’s body language indicates they are comfortable (i.e., note the comfort signs I have already mentioned).  

Per situational awareness, be conscious of how you view situations discussed and how the other person may perceive them. The difference in context and perception may also alter that person’s body language.  

Improve Your Body Language Reading Skills

I have walked up to people in airports, introduced myself as a body language expert, and told them what I observed about their body language. Then, I ask for their assessment of my perception. I have received some strange reactions when doing so.

People gave me feedback about my accuracy, which left them with a good story to tell others and me to practice reading body language. I suggest you find ways to practice enhancing your ability to read body language in some similar manner(s) daily. It will help you ferret out the lies of others.

Reflection

Every body does it – displays body language signs. When someone lies, their body experiences inner convulsions in its effort to conceal it. Those efforts are manifested in the body language signals it emits.

If you seek to lead others better or become a better leader at spotting lies, become better at reading body language. Take to heart, utilize, and implement the insights I have delivered. You will increase your ability to detect deception. And everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://megaphone.link/CSN6318246585

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

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