How to Spot a Lie in Five Simple Steps

For whatever the reason, people lie. While this can be overlooked for things like little white lies – ‘Love your new haircut!’ – it is not something we want to happen when we need to trust the information we are receiving. Forbes published an article in September 2007 that stated if we don’t have trust we can lose a lot of money. They went so far to say, ‘If you make $40,000 a year, then $200 is down to hard work and $39,800 is down to trust.’ One of the top reasons people have problems in relationships is due to the lack of trust. Therefore, it is not only in your economical best interest, but your emotional best interest to be able to spot a lie. These five steps will help you!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Check out the person’s eyes. Will he she look at you? The eyes often do the telling. If they shift back and forth, refusing to look at you or if they stare at you and don’t blink in a normal manner, this person could be lying.
2. Is he/she fidgeting too? Are you talking to someone who cannot seem to keep still? That is caused by stress – which could be the stress of telling an untruth. Liars also tend to touch their faces or mouth when lying.
3. Be sure to listen for a pause when you ask a question about the lie. Often, liars do not have all of their story straight and will need to ‘think on the go’. If you ask a question and he/she pauses, that is normally a dead give-away.
4. Does the person keep their details straight in the second telling or does the story change? Changing the story is a huge red flag that what is being said is not the truth.
5. Gauge the person’s mood. Is it negative and defensive? Complaining too much and being negative is often a big clue. Does the person take offense to you wanting to corroborate the story? If so, there is a lie being told.