Duck Duck Gray Duck

1. Act like a friend to lower their guard

Coming across as empathetic in a conversation gets the person to open up more than when the interviewer is cold and accusatory. Developing rapport is the place to start.

2. Connect the dots

Instead of asking direct questions, tell the person the story as if you already know all the facts. Make it a statement—the guilty party will supply details and make corrections.

3. Surprise Them!

The person knows they are guilty and will be prepared for your questions. If you ask them something they do not expect, they will usually stumble when put on the spot.

4. Ask For The Story Backward

Truthful people tend to add details and remember facts the more they repeat their story. Liars, on the other hand, memorize their stories and keep them the same. Ask the person to recall events backward rather than forward in time.

For example, start at the end and then ask them to explain what happened right before that point. And then before that…

For truthful people, this makes recall easier. For liars, they tend to simplify the story so they don’t contradict themselves.

5. Withhold Evidence

If confronted with evidence of guilt too early, the person will either clam up or become hostile. Instead, give them the opportunity to make a confession. If they don’t, allude to evidence in such a way that they realize you know the facts.

6. Listen and let them blab

Liars tend to talk more than truthful people in an attempt to sound legitimate and win over their audience. Liars also tend to use more complex sentences to hide the truth. Here are some other things to look for:

Stress usually increases the speed of speech.
Stressed peopen often talk louder.
Cracking in the natural tone of the voice often occurs at the point of deception.
Coughing and clearing the throat are good signs of tension at the point when they occur.

7. “NO” is a key word to pay attention to

A person is most likely showing deceptive behavior when they:

Say “no” and look in a different direction (upward, downward, etc)
Say “no” and close their eyes.
Say “no” after a hesitation.
Say “noooooooo” stretched over a long period of time.
Say “no” in a singsong manner.

8. Be Wary Of Compliments

Watch out for someone who is trying too hard to make a good impression:

Emphasizing respect for your qualities and talents
Forming a mutual bond by reminding you of common friends and activities you share
Offering lots of praise and pleasantries
Laughing at all your jokes (a sure give-away)

9. Watch For Changes In Behavior

Take the time to notice subtle changes in behavior when you are interviewing them:

Exhibiting lapses in memory at critical times even though they’ve been alert in earlier conversation
Providing small crumbs of information to questions asked
Moving into a more formal way of speaking indicates that the conversation is hitting a point of stress
Using extreme superlatives or exaggerated responses, such as saying awesome instead of good.

10. Ask Follow-Up Questions

If the person exhibits uneasiness with a specific question, take the time to explore further. For example, “Explain this gap in your résumé” may lead to an answer such as, “I was recuperating from hip surgery.” Often, the deception that you’ve uncovered may be related to a personal embarrassment or a desire to be “the perfect candidate.”

Books on interrogation

Source: LaRae Quy