
Deception Tip 56:
Liars may lock their ankles together and tuck their feet back under the chair, combining the โXโ with backing away.
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E56 โ Ankles Backing Away โ Deception Tips Podcastย โย Click Here To Subscribe
Podcast Transcript
Hello and welcome to the deception tips podcast where you will learn amazing cues to detect deceit that will help you read people like never before. Iโm your host Spencer Coffman, letโs get started.
Welcome to episode 56 of the Deception Tips podcast. Last time, we talked about behavior that was related to the hands and it was a grooming gesture, also a preening gesture.ย
People do these when they want to make themselves appear a little bit better or a little cleaner, professional, neat or choose any words you like, than they were before. Itโs also something that happens when theyโre either nervous, bored, or any of those types of deals.
When all of a sudden, they have nothing to do but look at themselves and see all the things that are wrong with them. We talked about this relating to the hands and that people will try to make their hands a little better such as biting their fingernails or cuticle picking, things like that.ย
This behavior is indicative of tension and anxiety and I hope that over the last week, you have taken the time to observe other people a little bit and see if you noticed anybody using grooming gestures on their hands.
Maybe you yourself are a nail-biter or something like that and youโve noticed it on yourself. Hopefully, youโve done a little introspection and examined why you were doing it, what was the cause? Was there something going on around you? Were you thinking about something? If you saw it on other people, I hope you took the time to think about why it might be happening on that other person because those types of behaviors are due to stress and anxiety.
If you remember it was the third one about our hands that weโve talked about. We also talked about โWringing the Handsโ, which was in episode 51, and โMassaging the Handโ in episode 52.ย
So, if you donโt remember those, go back, have another listen, or check out the video on YouTube, also the material in the blog or the books. Check out any of that stuff to refresh your memory and stay sharp.
Today, we have a different sign of deception, of course, weโre switching to a new gear that is also related to about four or five past episodes that weโve discussed. Today weโre talking about something thatโs happening on the legs, remember the legs are a very popular area for deception to occur. Why?ย
Well, the reason is that most people know that when talking with each other they like to watch the face, itโs polite to look people in the eye, maintain good eye contact, etc.
Therefore, the legs are usually under a table due to the fact that people speak sitting down across the table or at a desk or something like that. In addition, because people know that weโre watching each otherโs faces, the legs are a very popular place for body leakage to occur. Why is this? Well, remember there is that battle between the conscious and the unconscious.
The unconscious is fighting for the truth, it is trying to leak as many signs of deception as possible, as many truthful body language indicators. The conscious is trying to stifle those or mask them, hide them somehow. So, those two come up with a middle ground and the conscious says to the unconscious, who is trying to leak these behaviors, all of a sudden, the unconscious puts something to the legs.
The conscious says thatโs fine, Iโll allow it because I know that consciously, we watch each otherโs eyes or faces. So, the unconscious gets a little satisfaction that it gets to leak a behavior, the conscious is happy because it thinks no one is going to see the behavior.ย
However, you can trick all of that and watch the legs, we talked about that in episode 47. Keep in mind I speak about the conscious and the unconscious almost like theyโre two separate people fighting it out, itโs one mind, itโs the same thing.
It’s separate realities or dimensions of your mind so to speak, so keep that on your radar as well, itโs something thatโs going on but itโs not two separate entities, it is one and the same. So, today weโre going to dive into, as I said, a behavior relating to the legs. We talked about several of them before, Iโll recap them in a little bit but first I need to tell you about the deception tip today.
So, here it is, deception tip number 56. Liars may lock their ankles together and tuck their feet back under the chair combining the X with backing away. Here it is again, deception tip number 56. Liars may lock their ankles together and tuck their feet back under the chair combining the X with backing away. So, letโs break this down, there is a combination of signs that weโve already talked about built-in to this one, so this could potentially be a cluster or pattern of behaviors.
However, because it is all related to the legs, itโs in one area, one instance and itโs like one gesture, itโs not really considered a pattern or cluster. Itโs like if someone folds their arms and curls up a little bit and leans back, that could potentially be three separate signs of deception.
It could be arm folding that we talked about in episode 1, it could be taking up less space which weโve talked about before and it could also be the backing away. So, it could be three different signs there but because it is altogether a little bit itโs only considered one sign. The โTake up Spaceโ, we talked about in episode 40, and the โBacking Awayโ, we talked about in episode 29. So, if you want to refresh your memory, go ahead, hit those up, and check them out.
Today, it is the legs and the different behaviors, what are those three different behaviors? We have โLocked Anklesโ, we have Yuck their feet with an X and then tucking under the chair which is backing away. So, โLocked Anklesโ, weโve got โThe Xโ, and then weโve got โBacking Awayโ. Weโre going to talk more about where those happen and where we went into each one of those a little bit more coming up right after this.
Not only can you listen to these deception tips you can also watch a quick video explaining each one. Subscribe to the body language YouTube channel today.
Welcome back to episode 56 of the deception tips podcast where you are learning how to read people and detect deceit so that you will never be lied to again. Of course, you will always be lied to, but you will never be taken advantage of by lies again. Why? Because you will be able to see through them and you will know when someone is lying.
Today, we are talking about the legs, we have three different behaviors that are going on in the legs that are combining into one sign that is seen as a cluster or pattern of behaviors but because it is in one isolated area it is not taken as a reliable or full pattern or cluster of behaviors. So, what are those three signs? Weโve got โLocked Anklesโ, weโve got โThe X of the Legsโ, and we have tucking underneath which is โBacking Awayโ.
When did we talk about those? Well, we have locked ankles which we discussed way back in episode 22. โLocked Anklesโ is like when someone just crosses their ankles, hooking their feet together. We discussed how they could do this when theyโre seated, seated liars may lock their ankles, and how they could pull to almost release some stress or tension involved.
Itโs like an inhibitory behavior, theyโre trying to release something or theyโre trying to not do something, maybe not run away. It is like a pacification gesture, they may want to run away but they know they canโt, so they locked their ankles together and push to release that desire to run away. Whatever it may be but that is how that one looks.
Then we have the X, when did we talk about that? That was not so long ago in episode number 49 when we talked about the calf muscle, how liars who are sitting usually, may cross their legs at the calf muscle, making an X-like position with the bottoms of their legs. Itโs not the typical crossing of the legs like the figure 4 position or leg over leg like the Brits do or people in England or people in America does it as well.
Itโs typically known as the British style of crossing the legs or the English style of crossing the legs, whereas the other one that you see more in America is the figure 4 position. Fun fact, back in the world wars, the American spies were caught right away for sitting with their legs in the figure 4 position because the people over there knew that no one over there sat like that.
So, they needed to retrain their spies to sit as they do over there, when in Rome type of a deal. Anyway, the next sign that we have in this little bundle is tucking the legs under the chair, which is backing away, and we talked about this in episode 29 when we discuss the โStepping Backwardโ. Why people step backward is because if theyโre given an accusation, something is thrown at them, they step backward, they get away from it, and they want to ward it off.
Usually, you see like a hand raise go up with that, like, hey, Iโm innocent, donโt shoot type of behavior, so that is how that is all playing out. One thing I do want to mention when it comes to this leg behavior of crossing, locking ankles, and tucking them under, is that weโve seen a similar thing before which I have mentioned, and it is folding the arms.
You can fold your arms and tuck back and go away and itโs similar to crossing the legs. So, the arms and the legs have similar stuff, what does it mean? Well, it could mean defensiveness, withdrawal, something like that, which is the same as folding the arms. We talked about that long ago, that was our episode number one. So, I encourage you to listen to that, listen to this, see the difference, hopefully, Iโve improved.
Anyway, moving on, we have this sign, so what theyโre doing is theyโre locking their ankles together, that is going to release some stress and tension because itโs locked, theyโre putting tension on their ankles.ย
Theyโre pulling them, theyโre pushing them, theyโre putting pressure down there which is going to release that stress, tension, and anxiety thatโs building up as a result of them being in that lying situation.
In addition, theyโre going to tuck their feet back under the chair, what is this accomplishing? This is accomplishing the taking up less space because theyโre tucking them under. I mentioned where that was from, so go ahead and listen to that, that was episode number 40, theyโre taking up less space by tucking their feet under the chair. In addition, thatโs also a sign of withdrawal, theyโre pulling back from the situation.
Usually, when theyโre seated, theyโre probably opposite of the target, so theyโre pulling away from that target, theyโre pulling back. Since they tucked their feet and crossed their ankles or locked their ankles, that means that their legs are also crossed at the calf muscle making that X, what does that X do? That X is like blocking perceptions.
Theyโre unconsciously blocking off someone else from reading their body language. Itโs like in the movies when you see those vampire movies or something where people put up their arms like an X, like stay away from me or this was a holy cross. You see those kinds of a deal where they do that, thatโs what this resembles a little bit, theyโre warding off those perceptions by making that X.
In addition, their entire body is going to be a little bit reserved, and withdrawn, theyโve combined all three of those behaviors into one. It is a sign of deception, however, keep in mind, that this could happen under any number of circumstances.ย
So, letโs say youโre in an uncomfortable situation, you may be feeling that anxiety or tension, so youโll cross your legs, lock your ankles and tuck them back under your chair to be a little bit more reserved, withdrawn, itโs like a shyness behavior, itโs a comforting gesture.
You may feel comfortable doing that, itโs like your legs giving themselves a hug. Just like when we talked about arm folding, some people may fold their arms to give themselves a hug, itโs a comforting gesture, so keep that one in mind as well. In addition, it could also mean that theyโre cold.ย
When someone is cold what is the best thing to do? Curl up, you get your body close together, you reduce the space between all of your extremities, your limbs, you bring them all to the core.
So, curling up, folding the legs in, tucking, and locking the ankles could also mean that someone is a little bit chilly and theyโre just curling up to bring themselves together. Again, a sign of comfort, warmth is a comfort, so that could be another comfort gesture.ย
Therefore, pay attention to that, remember that not everything is a sign of deception even though it could be a potential sign of deception. Even though this is a pattern of behaviors, itโs combined into one, itโs one fluid movement or one fluid gesture, therefore, itโs not really considered a cluster.
If you saw them lock their ankles, tuck their feet back, they have the X going on and they fold their arms, curl up, now weโve got two separate kinds of clusters being put together, that could mean something.ย
Again, it could mean theyโre freezing cold and theyโre curling up, so pay attention to that, be on the lookout for other signs to go with these signs so that you are always looking for patterns and clusters of behavior.
I want to thank you for listening to this weekโs episode of the deception tips. I hope that youโll share it with your friends, subscribe to the feed, check out the deception tips videos, and the blog, and take a look at the books I have available as always, tune in next week for a new deception tip.
Video Transcript
Hey guys, my name is Spencer Coffman, thank you for watching theย Deception Tips videos, theyโre all about teaching you how to read people and detect deception so that you will be able to tell if someone is lying to you. Today, we are talking about a really cool deception tip, this is kind of a recap of a few tips weโve had before, so this is almost a pattern or a cluster of behaviors in and of itself and fancy that it happens on the legs.
So, remember when we talked about how itโs important to watch the leg because a lot of behaviors are going to happen down there simply due to the fact that the conscious knows that people are watching the face, so it is going to work very hard to mask the face. Weโve talked about that in a deception tip before and it will allow the unconscious to leak these nonverbal signs of behavior or body language or deception on the legs because it knows that the legs are usually under a table because youโre sitting down.
They may be behind the desk, theyโre not in the front, theyโre not seen, so youโll see these gestures here and that is one of the behaviors that we are going to talk about today. So, here it is, this is deception tip number 56. Liars may lock their ankles together and tuck their feet back under the chair, combining the X with backing away.
So, youโll notice there are three things here, number one, they may lock the ankles. We talked about this in deception tip number 22, Locked Ankles, how theyโre going to lock those ankles and push that tension on there. So, itโs releasing that stress and that tension, locked ankles then they are going to tuck these legs back under the chair.
So, this is the deception tip that weโve talked about with backing away, this was on deception tip number 29. So, we have the person when theyโre lying, they may be backing away to get away from the accusation or ward it off. Theyโre going to back away from that target or from whoever is throwing something at them, theyโre getting away from it, theyโre backing away.
So, youโre seeing this in this tip when they have those ankles tucked or backing underneath the chair. Then the third part is the X, combining that X with backing away because theyโve locked the ankles and theyโve tucked the legs under the chair. Then if they have their ankles locked and theyโre tucking their legs, chances are that their shin and calf muscle are one on top of another, so theyโre making that X.
We talked about that a few times ago in deception tip number 49 when we talked about Calf Muscle and how they will put their legs in an X to ward off the perceptions or block the perceptions of the target. So, this is a pattern or a cluster in and of itself, it is locking their ankles, so theyโre releasing the stress and the tension involved in telling a lie.
In addition, itโs backing away because theyโre tucking their legs beneath the chair or underneath their body and sitting on them. You never know, it could be any variety like that, so theyโre backing away from the situation. Then it is also in an X, so theyโre crossing those legs in an X to ward off or defend themselves from the target or from their perceptions, theyโre withholding.
Now, even though this is a cluster in and of itself on the legs, you donโt want to just take this and if you see it be like, โOh my gosh, theyโre lying, itโs time for me to call him out on that lie or I know for certain theyโre lying.โ Even though it is three gestures and deception tips put all in one, it could happen in a split second.
All of a sudden, theyโre sitting in the chair, they cross their ankles, lock them up, put them under them or tuck them beneath, it can happen in a matter of a couple of seconds, so it considered a pattern or cluster of behaviors, itโs not conclusive. However, you will see other signs with this, youโre going to see other signs that weโve talked about.
Whether they fold their arms, whether they actually back away from the situation, whether they face the exit, something else is going to happen. So, watch for that, if you see this, pay attention to other signs that you will see as well. When you see the other signs, then you can start putting it together in a pattern and cluster of behaviors.
So, if this is your first time watching these videos, Iโd love to have youย subscribe to the channel on YouTube, feel free to comment with any questions you may have as well. Also, if youโd like some more information, weโveย got books,ย blog posts, andย podcasts, all available onย spencercoffman.comย that are dedicated to teaching you exactly what every body is saying.
Until next time.