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referred to as the honest brain. Consequently, it gives off a true response to information in the immediate environment. It reacts instan- taneously, in real time, and without thought. Thus, it is the "honest" part of the brain. The rest of the brain is the non-honest parts of the brain. Those parts deceive and deceive often. An example of the limbic system would be if you are scared of snakes or spiders and you dis- cover one 2 feet from you. The moment you see the snake or spider you will react (jump, scream, run, yell, etc.). This would be a lim- bic reaction (instantaneous, in real time, and without thought). These reactions are valu- able as they are authentic. That is, they are an honest reveal of that person in that situation. There would be no deception involved as they don't have time to think about their reaction. It is only when we have time to think about our responses that we many times couch our response to "fit" the person/situation. In my body language training, I examine multiple tells and their meaning in the western culture. The following table will give you a good starting point: Detecting Lying & Deception This may sound strange coming from a body language expert, but determining if a person is lying or being deceptive through body language is inadequate. Don't get me wrong; we can get some wonderful tips and clues through body language but to detect lying and deception a couple other features are required. In my training on detecting lying and deception, I refer to the features as a three- pronged approach. One is body language, another is the science of lying, and lastly is what I call content and structure. When all three parts are working in concert, you now have the best chance of detecting lying and deception. Body language we have already touched on. The science of lying is a body of knowl- edge that researchers have captured and documented on; why people lie, the types of lies they tells, the frequency of lying, the type of damage done by lying, and the mental gymnastics that liars go through, etc. The content and structure part relies on a person responding to questions you have asked. What comes out of their mouths is content and the way they structure the con- tent is very important. Example: when I was a high school principal in Wisconsin a rock was thrown through a window. Two teens were sent to me, each one accusing the other of being the rock thrower. After a couple minutes of asking certain questions, watching their reactions, and listening to their content and structure, I knew who the rock thrower was. A more high profile example of this would be Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who in 1994 drove her car into a lake and killed her children. She had told the police her vehicle was abducted by a single African American man at a stop light. When she addressed the media she would plead, "Oh I need my babies back!" But never once was there a tear. As she spoke she said, "I just can't stress it enough that we just got to get them back home. Where . . . that's just where they belong, with their mamma and daddy." Notice in her content and structure, she never referred to her chil- dren in the present tense. She referred to her children as "them." Her estranged husband on the other hand got up to the microphone and referred to the children in the present tense and called them by name. There is a strong human emotion that takes over when you lose a family member. It's called hope. You never give up hope until you know different. Susan knew different and it played out with her content and structure. Research indicates that up to 93% of all face-to-face communication is non-verbal, yet very few are trained to observe "tells" and know what they mean when they spot them. As a professional that interfaces with humans, it would behoove you to address this much needed skill for the highest level success in the workplace. ■ Jerry Balistreri, B.S., M.S., M.Ed., ASTD Certified Trainer is a retired CTE educator and administrator. Jerry offers training on how to read body language and can be contacted at balis@acsalaska.net. www.stma.org August 2014 | SportsTurf 29