Everybody lies. But relying on hunches to spot a lie is nonsense — it takes science to reveal the truth.

In a bid to help people recognize a lie and, vice versa, the truth and therefore make the best decision about it, graphologist Deborah Dewi and behavior analyst Handoko Gani collaborated in Festival Bohong Indonesia (Indonesian Lie Festival).

The irony might be that people may learn one or two tricks for committing a smooth deception from the event, which is being held every Saturday this month. Lying — the truth be told — doesn’t come easy, according to the experts.

Handoko said that there were five channels of emotional expression in a person, including body gestures, choice of words, voice pitch and the way the person speaks, but facial expression is the most reliable source of analysis.

The commonly assumed lie indicators, such as averting eye contact while talking, scratching or stuttering, may lead to a misunderstanding, he added.

“A poker face is not necessarily an indication that the person is lying. To lie, one needs to work on more facial muscles,” said Handoko, the first Indonesian with post-graduate title from Behavior Analysis and Investigative Interview at the Emotional Intelligence Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK — a part of the Paul Ekman International Group.

In behavioral studies, he explained, lying is defined as an effort made by a person in order to deceive others.

The definition raises questions about whether that person is a pathological liar, or it’s just a situational phenomenon.

“Let’s analyze the person’s handwriting to tell whether he or she just did something out of character,” said Deborah.

Everybody lies. But relying on hunches to spot a lie is nonsense '€” it takes science to reveal the truth.

In a bid to help people recognize a lie and, vice versa, the truth and therefore make the best decision about it, graphologist Deborah Dewi and behavior analyst Handoko Gani collaborated in Festival Bohong Indonesia (Indonesian Lie Festival).

The irony might be that people may learn one or two tricks for committing a smooth deception from the event, which is being held every Saturday this month. Lying '€” the truth be told '€” doesn'€™t come easy, according to the experts.

Handoko said that there were five channels of emotional expression in a person, including body gestures, choice of words, voice pitch and the way the person speaks, but facial expression is the most reliable source of analysis.

The commonly assumed lie indicators, such as averting eye contact while talking, scratching or stuttering, may lead to a misunderstanding, he added.

'€œA poker face is not necessarily an indication that the person is lying. To lie, one needs to work on more facial muscles,'€ said Handoko, the first Indonesian with post-graduate title from Behavior Analysis and Investigative Interview at the Emotional Intelligence Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK '€” a part of the Paul Ekman International Group.

In behavioral studies, he explained, lying is defined as an effort made by a person in order to deceive others.

The definition raises questions about whether that person is a pathological liar, or it'€™s just a situational phenomenon.

'€œLet'€™s analyze the person'€™s handwriting to tell whether he or she just did something out of character,'€ said Deborah.

Deborah, the only certified graphologist in Indonesia affiliated with the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, explained that she could tell a person'€™s character from their handwriting, or to be precise, brainwriting.

'€œHandwriting is the result of interactions between various structures and circuits inside the brain '€” the reason why people without upper limbs can still write with their feet or mouths, for instance.

'€œAs it is controlled by the brain, handwriting analysis is a reliable method to see through the person,'€ said Deborah, who recently helped the Jakarta Police reveal the murderer of a university student from a suicide note left on the crime scene.

The combination of the two methods, they said, offered more accurate answers compared to, for
example, a lie detector.

Their expertise has been used by major corporations to find the right person in the right place, but Deborah and Handoko insisted that there were more in the studies that was useful in daily lives.

At the first event on Nov. 7, the participants were introduced to how to recognize their own character and others'€™ in the workplace, whether they were risk-taking entrepreneurial types or employees with integrity.

In an edutainment package equipped with a short film and a stage performance by actors, Deborah and Handoko gave insights on how to recognize a self-employed entrepreneur and find out if the business opportunity offered by the person was not a lie.

The next four topics will revolve around the lies of household assistants and children, start-up recruitment, teamwork and relationships using various techniques, including the Criteria Based Content Analysis and the Kalbfleisch interview technique usually used in police investigations.

'€œAnyone may think or assume they have been lied to, but they could be wrong. Such a mistaken assumption could be avoided if you could tell which one is an outright lie and which one is not,'€ said Deborah.

'€œWith basic knowledge of reading a character and recognizing a lie we can avoid making bad decisions.'€
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More information on Festival Bohong Indonesia is available at Twitter

@FestivalBOHONG, @deborahdewi (deborahdewi.com) and @LieDetectorID (handokogani.com) or the Facebook page, Festival Bohong.

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