224 W H A T EVERY BODY IS SAYING
every detail, feeling the depths of despair, eager to help, and willing to
tell and retell the story, even at personal risk. When such reports are
made by placid individuals, more concerned with getting one particular
version of the story out and lacking in consistent emotional displays, or
who are more concerned about their own well-being and how they are
perceived, it is behavior that is totally out of synchrony with circum-
stances and inconsistent with honesty.
Lastly, there should be synchrony between events, time, and place. A
person who delays reporting a significant event, such as the drowning of
a friend, spouse, or child, or who travels to another jurisdiction to report
the event should rightfully come under suspicion. Furthermore, the re-
porting of events that would have been impossible to observe from the
person’s vantage point is asynchronous, and therefore suspect. People
who lie do not consider how synchrony fits into the equation, and their
nonverbals and stories will eventually fail them. Achieving synchrony is a
form of comfort and, as we have seen, plays a major role during police
interviews and the reporting of crimes; but it will also set the stage for
successful and meaningful conversations about all manner of serious is-
sues in which detecting deceit is important.
EmphasisWhen we speak, we naturally utilize various parts of our body—such as
the eyebrows, head, hands, arms, torso, legs, and feet—to emphasize a
point about which we feel deeply or emotionally. Observing emphasis is
important because emphasis is universal when people are being genuine.
Emphasis is the limbic brain’s contribution to communication, a way to
let others know just how potently we feel. Conversely, when the limbic
brain does not back up what we say, we emphasize less or not at all. For
the most part, in my experience and that of others, liars do not empha-
size (Lieberman, 1998, 37). Liars will engage their cognitive brains in
order to decide what to say and how to deceive, but rarely do they think
about the presentation of the lie. When compelled to lie, most people are
not aware of how much emphasis or accentuation enters into everyday