Reading the face

One of the basic examples given in the field of non verbal communication is certainly the "a smile that doesn't involve the entire face, but is limited to the mouth, is often a fake smile".
The face provides us with obvious and very concealed clues at the same time. The involvement of the forehead or timing difference between the speech and the emotions on the face can be easily spotted whereas other clues such as micro expressions are much harder to catch.

On a totally philosophical note; I believe stories are the most important form of communication. From cave paintings telling hunting stories to million dollar advertising campaigns, from the door-to-door salesman to the girl you just met, everyone is telling a story.

Or at least they try. Some have a good story and they tell it well so they succeed, others can't even put together a mediocre story so failure is guaranteed. In this perspective, deception is story telling.

There are many ways to understand if someone is lying and the easiest way is certainly face to face. Other situations involving telephone or emails can be more challenging. There are dozens of ways to understand if someone is lying in face to face situations but before getting to more complicated clues, eyes can tell a lot. Here we will focus on the direction the eyes look.

Just look at the drawing below;

To summarize;
1: Creating a visual scenario (making up images)
2: Creating an auditory scenario (making up sounds)
3: Feelings are involved
4: Remembering a visual situation (recalls something seen before)
5: Remembering an auditory situation (recalls something heard before)
6: Talking to self

These basic clues can be used in many different situations, please don't confine them to lie/truth situations. For example if someone goes from 1 to 6 when you are presenting a new project it can be a good sign; they have visualized it and are discussing the matter internally.

Don't forget to observe as many as people as you can, the truth is out there... on other people's face