I can tell you're lying

How can you tell that someone is lying to you?

Research reported in the Guardian suggests that people are more likely to lie in emails than in other forms of communication.

In tests, students were given some money and asked to share it with someone who didn't know how much money there was to share. 92% of the students lied about the amount in their emails (claiming the amount was smaller than it was) while 64% lied when they were writing by hand.

The conclusion of the research is that people find it easier to lie in writing (especially via email) than they do face-to-face, and that this ability to deceive has obvious repercussions for businesses.

So how can you tell if someone is lying?

In face-to-face communication, absence of eye contact and "awkward" body language such as touching part of the face are standard signs of lying. You can also pick up verbal clues that someone is trying to deceive you: perhaps the other person is talking more than usual, or trying to change the subject.

In written communication, where someone has had time to prepare, it is obviously much easier to lie. Words and phrases that raise a particular "red flag" with me (as they tend to suggest the opposite in meaning) are "honestly", "frankly" and "with all due respect".

Do you have any tips for detecting liars?