Tone-of-Voice and Voice Inflection Clues

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Another clue to deception that I have consciously honed into lately is tone-of-voice and voice inflection. Take, for instance, the word “Hello”.

When you answer the phone, and you don’t know who it is, you say “Hello?” as a question.

When you greet a neighbor, for instance, you would say it as a subtle statement or greeting. Hello.

Yet there are other times when you say the word when someone does something silly, or ridiculous, perhaps without thought. You might say in your mind, “What were you thinking??! And then verbalize: Helll-lo! It’s a much stronger statement in this scenario. The inflection of the voice here is most notably different compared to the other two uses.

Yet all three are distinctly different. Try saying them and listening to yourself as you say them:

Hello? Hello. Hello!

Who knew that one word has different voice inflections—which cause the tone of one’s voice to vary when spoken—all depending on the meaning intended. You can exaggerate all of these as well and they will vary, depending on the circumstance used. I suspect we know about this, but we haven’t given it much thought, although we should. There are interesting implications to tone-of-voice and voice inflection.

It is precisely these distinctions that can clue me into people who are deceptive. When someone isn’t confident about something they are saying, or they are making their story up as they speak, some people will attempt to make a statement, but they will say it, unintentionally, as a question, if only through inflection and tone of voice. It’s rather interesting. It’s subtle; unless you focus, you may not catch it. I think many people miss these clues.

The worst offenders in this situation will often hesitate in their thinking, and their hesitation causes them to reaffirm what they just said by saying directly afterward, “Yeah, that’s right”, even though no one asked them for affirmation. It’s quite fascinating and telling at the same time.

Well, that’s all. Just crazy knowledge from deep within my brain that I am now becoming hyper-sensitive to. Who knew?

Observe yourself: You might be surprised by what you learn!

Word Nuances

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It’s amazing how word order in speech (and even in writing), word groupings, word choices and voice influctuations can affect the meaning of what we say. It’s not uncommon for me to use this information to determine information about someone. It is precisely what can point me in the direction that perhaps someone is lying. While sometimes I can see the lie directly, other times it is the word order than provides me with a hint to look further. Word order that is not normal or accurate is one clue that can hint at deception.

Take for example John Karr and what he is saying. He says, “I killed JonBenet Ramsey. I love her.”

He loves her, yet if he killed her, wouldn’t he say, “I loved her.” Past tense? You see when people lie, they don’t always cover their tracks 100% because they don’t think through every detail. They don’t come naturally.

Last night, I heard someone say, “He keeps his yard up. He isn’t the pig.”

What can you glean from that statement? Anything?

You can’t spot a lie in the second statement, but you can read into. You can pretty much surmise that whoever said that believes that while this guy isn’t the pig, SOMEONE ELSE IS. Someone else is the pig. Perhaps that would also suggest that this person is picky, neat, precise… clues to put in your cap which may point out inconsistencies down the road. If this man later told me that he is a slob and order doesn’t matter — I’d know better.

Little word nuances: They can have big impact.