TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCESThe best liar sticks close to the truth. He or she never makes
up elaborate scenarios. Instead, the liar tells as much of the truth
as possible, and then throws in the smallest lie to make the point.
Another technique liars use is to make the truth sound so outra-
geous that the listener shrugs it off as a lie. An executive seen
at lunch with the head of a rival firm was confronted by his boss:
"Was she trying to recruit you?"
It was a recruitment lunch, but instead of protesting, the execu-
tive laughed. "Sure, and she offered me three million a year and
a three-month vacation." An obviously nonsensical lie, but it served
to cut off any further questioning.GESTURES AND MANIPULATORS
Certain gestures go along with speech. Hands are used to shape
a sentence, to draw a picture in space, to strengthen or to deny
what we say. Some cultures, as was noted earlier, use more hand
gestures than others; some are very limited in gestures.
An important clue to lying is the rate at which gestures are
made. We increase the number of gestures we make when someone
doesn't understand us, or when we are angry, upset, or excited.
We use fewer gestures when we are uncertain about what we are
saying, or when we are repeating a talk for the third or fourth
time.
Gestures also decrease when we are cautious about what we
are saying.
We may be cautious when what we are saying is important,
when we want to make a good first impression, or in many other
situations, including lying. If we are not practiced liars, if our
lie is not rehearsed, or if the lie summons up strong emotions,