A lot of experts adopt specific approaches on how to spot a liar, but the truth is, it's hard to break down human behavior to these basic interpretations.
Carol Kinsey Goman at Forbes reports that the only way you can tell if someone is lying is if you've observed their "baseline behavior under relaxed or generally stress-free conditions." This way, you will know if their fidgety movements are a far cry from how they normally behave.
"Once you’ve assessed what is 'normal' for a co-worker, you will be able to detect shifts, when her body language is 'out of character,' " Goman writes.
And what's normal for one person isn't always normal for someone else. For example, Bill Rosenthal, chief executive of Communispond, a communications coaching firm, told Caitlin Madden at CareerBuilder that when people are lying they will avert eye contact because they feel guilty, but some people will make too much eye contact because they're trying to prove that they're not guilty.
If you aren't around the person enough in their everyday habitat, then you can try a technique that detectives often use during interrogations, which is asking a series of non-threatening questions before moving on to more difficult questions.
This will allow you to observe the subject's behavior when they are asked easier questions and compare it to any shifts in their movements you may encounter with the more difficult questions.
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