Liar Liar

I was watching a fascinating programme on BBC last night on lying. Its something we do more often that we realise - from little white lies to smooth over a situation or bolster someone to whoppers that either get us into or out of trouble.

According to research men are generally better at determining if people are lying or not. Woman tend not to ignore the subtle non verbal clues that give people away. We've been taught that its not nice to stare and as a result we tend to gloss over the tell-tale signs of a lie. They showed footage of people who had to watch a programme that was either violent or not, then tell the interviewer that they were watching the total opposite of what was being shown and describe how much they liked it. If you looked really hard though, you could tell who was lying and who wasn't!

It's quite simple really - even if you're a really good liar, unconsciously you give away a clue. Often it is so quick that most people miss it, in other words it happens so quickly that if you're not paying attention you'll miss it like most people. The key is to be observant and to study people's faces carefully. It might sound tiring but you can pick up a lot and save yourself a lot of trouble down the road.

Try it the next time you are talking to someone. Carefully watch their facial expressions when you say something. Over time you will notice a pattern, and you will begin to get the idea.