Voice Tone
How can you tell if a person is lying over the phone when you cant see there body language
Those are certainly clues to pay attention to. What questions can you ask a student when you experience the breaths and hesitation?
there are breaths that may be taken during the conversation that don't fit in with the discussion. hesitation on answers could be another sign.
Chris, you have listed some great tips here. I have noticed how some students will be very agreeable at times which always makes me a little nervous. In my experience this can either be a sign that the student just wants to get you off the phone or that they want you to move on, but making this assumption can be damaging as well. If the student seems to be saying all the right things it makes me wonder if they are really being honest with me. But if I assume this about everyone, I may end up being unhelpful to the student which may come across as being unhelpful. I agree with you that asking the right questions can help clarify things.
I have found this to be true as well. Asking questions and getting lots of ya ya's. I think that is when it is best to switch to open ended questions. Maybe we are boring the student? Over the phone I think it would be hard to tell if someone is lying or just busy doing something else.
I sometimes have students that will keep agreeing with me and indicating that they will submit an application when we hang up, just to get off the phone. How would you suggest dealing with this?
Scott, interesting point. Voice tone can certainly say a lot about the conversation, sometimes even more than the words people are saying.
Dr. Jean Norris
This is a topic I can relate to. I work at a school and everyday we get flooded with phone calls from students who most of time need to cancel their class. I feel the best way for me to judge whether they are lying or not is by the sound of their voice. Are they stuttering or are there inconsistencies in the stories?
This can be frustrating since they are speaking to you over the phone as opposed to in person since you would be able to read and study their body language.
Chanquinta,
Great point! I'm not sure any of us can tell if someone isn't being truthful. Let's focus on what we CAN do however. Instead of catching them in a lie...what is a positive way to engage people over the phone?
Dr. Jean Norris
There's no way to tell if a person is lying over the phone, unless you spoke with them more than once and you have notes of different answers they provided from before.
Claudette, thank you for your honesty. I'm curious, now that you have this awareness, what is your plan to control your voice tone?
Dr. Jean Norris
When I'm angry I like to raise my voice ,and l can't help it.
Great observation, Chris. Asking well-formed, meaningful questions can be a powerful way to encourage your students to share with you information that is important to them. When you feel as though a student is being dishonest due to their lack of engagement, I would suggest reframing the situation and asking, "what could I do differently to engage this student?" Many times, it's not that the student is being dishonest but rather, they don't feel a connection and choose to not engage in the conversation at that point. What might you do differently the next time you feel that this is happening?
Dr. Jean Norris
This is a great topic. I find this is a difficult situation because calling someone out over the phone about lying can end communication. It seems sometimes the more someone agree's with what you are saying the more dishonest they are, they are not actually engaged in the conversation, but just going along. Doing this they begin to say what you want to hear, not what is true. In this module it was good to see the How and What questions highlighted. I think asking questions can help straighten things out!
What can we determine through understanding voice tone?
This is interesting information, Magregory. Experience has shown that these cues may actually speak to something other than dishonesty on the student's part. It is critical that we really listen to what the student is saying. Perhaps their tone and long pauses indicate that they are nervous, anxious, scared, or frustrated about our process. Details can tell a lot about a person, as long as we listen to understand the experience from their perspective and not our own.
There are many things that indicate that someone may not be giving you the truth over the phone. One indication is that the persons tone may change. Stumbling over words. Pausing too long to answer what seems to be easy answers. Sometimes the details tell alot also. Uncertainty of answers show a great deal of issues. If a person can't really go into detail about a subject matter or begings to give choppy answers then these are signs that something may not be right.
I have found varying respones...pausing, slow to answer-as if to come up with another false answer...then there is the basic hang up!
Interesting question, Miguel. I guess my first instinct would be to ask, what might lead you to believe the person in not being truthful in the first place?
