How to Spot a Phony

We all know one--someone who's boastful stories just don't add up, or lame jokes get everyone laughing and avoiding an issue, someone who is the life of the party, but avoids intimate one-on-one conversations that get at deeper matters. Spotting a phoney requires paying attention to detail and focusing on the conversation.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Most phoneys have a kind of one-liner attitude they use to relate to people: the loud frat guy, the sultry vixen. Ask them questions requiring honest answers. If there's no change, chances are they're playing a part.
2. Observe his body language. Be wary of people who appear to be too comfortable, especially when meeting strangers. A healthy degree of anxiety is both natural and a sign of truthfulness.
3. Listen closely to the way he speaks. An honest communicator's speech patterns are frequently jagged and inconsistent as he searches for the correct words to express his thoughts. A phoney's speech patterns are smooth and rehearsed. There is little genuine emotion. Frequently repeating phrases and ideas are a dead giveaway.
4. Phoneys operate out of a comfort zone, which they will go very far to maintain. Pick up on their areas of expertise. Now try and lead the conversation in another direction. Are they resistant, afraid of looking bad? Or is there genuine curiosity to know more? This is a powerful determining factor.
5. Romance is the ultimate test to ferret out a phony. Intimacy will nearly always break through the little walls we put up against the world. Observe the person in question: are they engaged or removed from it? Do you see layers of vulnerability beneath the surface? If there's no change, it's official: you've got a phony on your hands.