- The knowledge on detecting lies reveals what is hiding in plain sight in every business meeting, job interview and negotiation as well as in the private life when communicating with others, said Ülli Kukumägi at SCCE’s 8 February workshop on detecting lies.
- There are multiple different nuances to notice in understanding whether a person is lying or not, continued Ülli.

- Follow the facial micro and macro expressions as well as the body language signals and changes in voice and path of the movements. Always look at signals as a group rather than focusing on a single action and analyze them within the context. As an example, if someone is exhibiting three or more of the following behaviors, that person will likely be disinterested, but not necessarily lying:
- Tense facial expression
- Tensed body
- The chest turned away from you
- Minimal or missing eye contact

- At least three of the following signs exhibited during the first 7 seconds after you asked a question, can refer to a lie:
- Increase in repetition, emphasis and hesitations (uum’s, eeh’s)
- Delayed start of the answer
- The pace in answering is slow, thus giving more time to construct a story
- Liars give fewer facts, especially concerning details that could be checked
- Liars are usually negative and uncooperative

- By understanding body language signals, you can read others. Body language is the key to understand hidden attitudes and feelings. People instantly react to events whether they want to or not and these automatic reactions leak information about their feelings, even those they want to hide. By being able to read body language, we are able to get a glimpse of the sometimes shocking hidden reality, concluded Ülli.

On behalf of the SCCE, I would like to thank Ülli Kukumägi and the Body Language Academy (www.bodylanguageacademy.ee) for a very interesting workshop on the art of detecting lies.

Sincerely,

Kristiina Brodén - SCCE Ombudsman