What Do You Think?

[jerrys1960]

http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/how-spot-liar?cm_mmc=MSN-_-How%20to%20Spot%20a%20Liar%20in%2020%20Seconds%20Flat-_-Article-_-How%20to%20Spot%20a%20Lying%20Politician%20RL


How to Spot a Liar
How to Spot a Lying Politician
They're all accused of it. Here's how to identify it

By Marc Salem, Illustrations by Daniel Bejar


They're all accused of it. Here's how to identify it.
Sure, most politicians are covering something up. But is it a benign insincerity or a flat-out lie?

In important public interviews, Yasir Arafat sucked in his lips and stuck out his tongue ("60 Minutes"); Bill Clinton performed microshrugs, noticeable only in slo-mo (while denying Lewinsky allegations before a grand jury), and John Kerry stared with overstudied empathy (Today show). In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer after the capture of Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush was afflicted with a wide range of nonverbal tics, from rapid eye blinking to pursed lips. In these moments, each of these men displayed nonverbal cues of deception.

There are up to 1,000 body-language cues packed in every minute of interaction-this is how the subconscious mind speaks. No matter how much a person wants to control it, nonverbal behavior reveals how he's truly feeling. So here's your viewer's guide to how to spot a liar. Happy hunting.

1. Sharp Pauses
When a person is lying, he pauses longer in the middle of sentences, provides shorter answers, and takes longer to begin his response than someone who's merely nervous. After all, he needs time to create the lie. Also, check his eyes. People tend to look up to the right to visualize or invent a response, and down to the right to invent sounds. We recall truth by looking up or down to the left.

2. Excessive Gesturing
When people lie, they move their hands a lot and employ "adapters"-that is, nervous movements like scratching the body or fiddling with a pencil. If a candidate is asked a question and immediately picks up a pen and begins playing, something's amiss subconsciously.

3. Lack of Gesturing
On the other hand, the practiced liar will try to control gestures. Richard Nixon was coached to stay still during his post-Watergate TV appearances. He kept his face inexpressive, his upper body stiff, and his legs crossed. First, he looked frozen. And then, when he couldn't hold it any longer, he leaked aggression cues, such as finger pointing and grasping motions. These movements were rarely in sync with his words-a real red flag.

4. Tight Lips
Look for unusual movement of the mouth, lips, or tongue. In a recent interview with NBC about Iraq's WMDs, Vice President Dick Cheney tightened and sucked his lips inward a half-dozen times. Tight lips indicate a person may be hiding the truth. If he sucks his lips in, he may be withholding anger. Also, when a person gets nervous, his mouth becomes dry, so he licks his lips and swallows. During the Iran Contra hearings, many witnesses asked for water. Clinton needed a soda during his grand-jury appearance.