Signs of deception

Have you ever met someone through the net and wondered if they were being honest? My personal experience is different but I’ve heard from enough people who’ve met people that they had a feeling they were lying about something.

Don’t spend one minute with someone who’s not on the up and up. There are too many good ones to saddle yourself with a loser. When you are ready to meet someone for the first time, here are some clues to watch out for.

Body Language

• The person will make little or no eye contact with you. If they’re lying, they’ll do everything to avoid direct eye contact.
• Gestures will be limited. Hand and arm movements will be more mechanical than animated.
• They’ll touch their face and neck but won’t touch their body, especially with an open hand on their chest.
• They might shrug their shoulders trying to relax themselves in an effort to look casual.

Consistency

• Timing is off between gestures and words. Their facial expression won’t match the timing of the words. For instance, "I’m really angry with you," and a frowning face doesn’t happen at the same time - the frown comes later.
• Gestures don’t match the words. Saying "I love you," and frowning says they’re insincere. Clenched fists while making a statement of pleasure is insincere.
• The emotions of happiness, surprise, awe and love will be expressed by the mouth but not the whole face.

On the Defensive

• When wrongfully accused, only a guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will go on the offensive.
• They are reluctant to face their accuser and may turn their head or shift their body away from you.
• Liars commonly slouch and are unlikely to stand up straight with arms out.
• You’ll see movement away from you - like toward the door.
• There will be no body contact while they’re trying to convince you that you’re wrong.
• They might put something between you as a physical barrier, such as a glass, pillow or other object as a non-verbal way of saying they don’t want to talk about it

Nobody wants to be with someone who’s dishonest. Let’s face it, if they lie to you about one thing, you’ll never trust them anyway. Don’t waste one minute with someone who lies to you because you’ll always be unhappy.