How to Detect Lies in Speech

Speech is one of the most informative channels for detecting deception. This article is a great addition to topics on calibration and psychological types. According to American polygraph examiner Nathan Gordon, director of the Academy for Scientific Investigative Training, speech plays a crucial role in lie detection. Gordon developed the “forensic assessment interview” and “composite interrogation” techniques. He is a recognized expert in forensic psychophysiology and an international authority in interviewing for courts and investigative agencies. Unlike polygraph results, which are banned in 23 states, Gordon’s methodology is accepted as evidence in all U.S. courts.

Silence as a Form of Deception

Silence is one of the simplest and most common forms of deception. Here, the liar deliberately withholds information without providing false details. Silence is less energy-consuming and often does not trigger obvious markers of lying, as it is also less socially punishable.

Silence typically manifests as:

• Refusing to communicate or only communicating through trusted representatives or lawyers, without revealing any information. This is not a direct sign of lying, but it does indicate the person has something to hide.
• Using phrases like “no comment”—a favorite among politicians. When someone responds this way to a provocative question, it signals that the information they are hiding is related to the topic in question.
• Statements like “I won’t tell you anything”—another stereotypical behavior of a liar. When someone says this, it’s clear they have something to conceal. Remember, even silence can communicate a lot.

Distortion: The Main Form of Lying

Distortion involves providing false information instead of the truth. This form of lying requires more effort, making deception markers—such as signs of stress in the autonomic nervous system—more noticeable.

The speech patterns of someone involved in deception often include the following psycholinguistic stereotypes:

• Generalization: Using universal quantifiers like “everyone,” “always,” “no one,” “never.” When asked about their or others’ possible involvement, they try to broaden the circle of suspects.
• Justifying the perpetrator’s intentions: When discussing the perpetrator, the person uses justifying motives and avoids negative words about the criminal act.
• Changing the perception of the event: The person tries to present the event from a different worldview, aiming to excuse and understand the perpetrator as “just another person.” This is often accompanied by distancing themselves from the incident with phrases like “I don’t know,” “I didn’t see,” or “I don’t understand the questions.”
• Distancing from the victim: The liar tries to dissociate from the person they harmed, using pronouns instead of names: “that person,” “he,” “she,” “they,” and rarely mentioning the victim by name.

Speech Patterns of Innocent People

The speech structure of someone not involved in deception is different. After reviewing the general tendencies of a liar’s speech, let’s look at specific examples of how lies can appear in speech. The main signs to watch for are evasions, emphasis, careless statements, slips of the tongue, and tirades.

Examples of Evasive Speech

• Not answering a direct question (“Good question…”, “Funny, by the way, where is our…”).
• Pretending to forget (“That was so long ago…”, “As far as I remember, no.”).
• Ignoring the question (doing something else instead of answering; responding to a different question; “that’s not the point, the point is something else…”).
• Philosophical answers (“From a philosophical point of view…”).
• Claiming not to understand the question (“What?”, “I didn’t get that”).
• Strong justifications with emphasis (“There will be no default,” as Boris Yeltsin said before the default).

Emphasis in Speech

Emphasis—emotionally highlighting a significant element or meaning in a statement—often indicates that a person is trying to impose their viewpoint as the only correct one. This raises the question: why are they doing this?

Careless Statements and Slips of the Tongue

During interviews, liars are often betrayed by careless statements and speech leaks, also known as “Freudian slips.” Under stress, a guilty person may accidentally reveal the truth. The interviewer should pay close attention to these leaks and use them in further questioning. With the right approach, such leaks can be quite frequent.

Tirades

A tirade differs from a slip of the tongue or an evasion. Here, the mistake is not a single word or phrase, but a long, often emotional, string of statements. The interviewee tries to overwhelm the interviewer with information to avoid revealing the truth. Often, the person doesn’t realize the consequences of their confessions until their words are recorded and presented as evidence.

Key Points for Lie Detection

The interviewer should pay attention to the overall structure of the person’s speech, watch for evasive answers to probing questions, track careless statements or slips of the tongue, and note tirades and emphatic statements. It’s important to remember that there is no single, definitive sign of deception.