A Former FBI Agent gives tips to know when someone is lying to you.
Contrary to what you may have heard, liars can look you in the eye and lie without problems – something they often do in court.
The swindler of Ponzi scheme, Bernard Madoff, was known to have a firm and confident eye, although he aggrieved his clients in billions of dollars.
But there are some tests you can do to know if someone is lying, according to Jack Schafer, the author, and former FBI agent.
He says, “I’ve compiled several techniques in my book The Like Switch, to detect people who are used to lie. The good of these techniques is that people are never aware that you are using it”.
1) Ask questions that can only be answered with yes or no
Liars often refuse to answer such questions. Instead, they try to give long, complicated and distorted answers, says Schafer.
Schafer says, “The Land of Is consists of half-truths, innuendos, suppositions, assumptions, and verbal judo. Most people want, to tell the truth, so they go to great lengths to contort the English language to maintain the illusion of truth without telling it entirely.”
2) Pay attention to the word “Well …”
Often, liars use such words to preface your answers, which shows that they are hoping to answer in a way that the interviewer is not expecting.
Schafer says, “if you ask someone a direct yes or no question, and the response you get begins with the word ‘Well,’ there is a high probability of deception.”
3) Ask: “Why should I believe you?”
People who are telling the truth will answer “because I’m telling the truth.”
Liars tend to give more complicated answers, according to Schafer.
Schafer says that liars offer answers like “I am an honest person”, “You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to,” or “I have no reason to lie”.
