Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................
you’re thinking and feeling. The minor muscular twitches, the dilation and
contraction of the pupils, flushed cheeks, and the slight sweating that occurs
when you’re under pressure can give away your game.
Watch someone’s face carefully if you think she may be deceiving you. While
the face may look calm and composed, at some point there comes a moment
when the mask falls to reveal the true feelings.
Imagine you’ve recently taken up skiing. Someone asks you how you’re getting
on. You tell her you love it, that after your first week you tackled a black run,
and even though you wiped out and spent most of the run careering down the
mountain flipping between your front and back sides, you’re mad about the
sport and can’t wait to give it another go. While your words say ‘Yes!’ and
you’re smiling and laughing as you’re telling the story, for the briefest of
moments a look of fear crosses your face, immediately replaced by your
previous enthusiastic and excited expression. If spotted, that momentary look
exposes your terror. It shows that, although you want to convey the impression
of loving what you had been doing, during that fall you feared for your life.
Suppressing Facial Expressions .................................................................
A composed face, lacking expression, is the one that may be masking emo-
tion. It’s what’s known as a ‘poker face’ and is the easiest and most successful
way of concealing what you’d rather not show. Narrowed eyes, a tense fore-
head, and tightened jaw muscles are other small, subtle signs that an emo-
tion is being suppressed.
Say you’re at the funeral of a dear friend. While what you may really want to
do is cry uncontrollably you feel it is inappropriate to expose your emotions
so openly. You voluntarily compose your facial expression, replacing your
instinct to cry with a tight-lipped pose or even a slight smile as people pay
their condolences. The giveaway signs here are that your eyes are filled with
sorrow, your forehead is holding tension, and your smile is crooked or the
sides of your mouth are turning downwards. Your lips may well tremble as
you fight to contain your emotion and deceive others into thinking that you
are bearing up well.
Eyeing Someone Up .....................................................................................
Some deceivers look you straight in the eye while telling a barefaced lie.
Others look away. What you, as a lie detector, have to do is look for the inten-
sity of the action and compare the behaviour to what you’ve noticed in the
past. Possible signs of deception include:
