Netiquette - Catching a Lie in an Email - Via Netiquette IQ

Tone in an email is a very important as I have iterated many times.

Studies have shown that many people hide behind email for a number of negative reasons.

Since a recipient cannot see or hear the sender of an email, it can be far harder to make a judgement if someone is prevaricating. The following post has has some very nice hints on how to better discern if someone might not be telling the truth!
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Catch a Lie in an Email or Text Message by Looking for These Red Flags

 

Thorin Klosowski Lifenacker 5/20/2014

Catching a liar in person usually just means looking for a variety of nonverbal cues, but that's not as easy when it's written in a text message or email. For that, The Wall Street Journal suggests looking for subtle changes in how someone words things:

 Detecting a lie over text is tough, but you can watch out for a variety of red flags. Here are just a few of them

·         Watch for when a writer omits personal pronouns from a story

·         Look for noncommittal expressions (probably, pretty sure, must have)

·         Changes in tense can signal a lie in an otherwise true story

·         Uncharacteristic speech can indicate a lie

·         Abrupt changes of topics are often used to move the topic away from a lie

·         Look for too much insignificant detail

·         Qualifier statements like "to be honest" and "as far as I remember" can signal a lie

It's not nearly as easy as spotting a lie in person, but it can be done. As with spotting any lie, none of the above red flags guarantee a lie and depends on context. Still, they're often good indicators of lies.

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In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

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 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.