How can you tell if someone is lying?

Telling a lie at least once a day is something everybody is guilty of, according to body language and detection expert Darren Stanton.   And in 10 minutes of conversation the average person

will tell at least three white lies.  Coughing is one of the giveaway signs for when someone is lying, according to Darren.  But he revealed: “Nine in 10 people don’t recognise coughing as a

sign of lying.  “There is a process called detection apprehension, which means the more a person wants to keep a lie in, the more signals the body gives off.  “When you tell a lie, you are

in a state of heightened anxiety, which causes the body’s saliva to dry up, producing a dry throat - and this makes you cough.” So how else can you tell if a person is lying to you? Darren

Stanton gives his top seven tips.  EYE CONTACT Eye contact is key. Normal eye contact lasts three to five seconds, but eye contact for love or hate averages at seven seconds. So if someone

has no reason to love or hate you and they’re staring for a long time, something is up.  STRESS NERVES People’s noses go very pale or red when they lie - often called the Pinocchio effect.

There’s also a nerve in the back of the neck that people often rub when stressed. Of course, sweating is always a classic, tell-tale sign.  COUGHING  If someone suddenly starts coughing when

they haven’t coughed throughout the conversation, this could be a red flag. A simple way to test this is to change the topic that they aren’t happy with and talk about something else. Bring

up the same topic again later on and if the cough appears again - hey presto, it’s a fib.  CHANGES IN PITCH OF VOICE  People’s voices get higher when they’re lying. Sometimes voices will

crack and the person will not even realise it. It’s an indicator that some companies use to catch fraudsters. Typically now when you speak to some companies, your voice is being monitored by

fraud protection software. If the software detects stress or tension in the voice, it is often referred to a separate department for investigation.  MAKING INSECURE GESTURES  People will

distance themselves from the conversation if they are lying and also make some out of character gestures. For example, people might step back or lick their lips if they aren’t feeling

confident about the statement that they just made.  CHANGES IN BODY MOVEMENT AND POSTURE  If someone is quite animated but then suddenly slow down and shrink in, that could be an indicator

that potentially something isn’t right. It could just be that they’re very nervous because they’ve been placed into an unfamiliar environment. However, it does give off a good sign that

there may be more to what they’re saying.  STUTTERS AND PAUSES - THE TELL-TALE SIGN If you accuse someone of doing something then they might reply: “Err - no”, which isn’t natural to

everyday conversation. So listen out for people hesitating, using unusual language or stuttering their words.  Travellers to the US and Canada may be subject to a lie detector test when

going through airport security.