How to Spot a Lie?

People are masters of acting. Not the Oscar-nominated kind — more like improvised, neighbourhood theatre. We all have that one friend who pretends to be calm while his brain is on fire. I remember one situation — a friend insisted he hadn’t eaten the last slice of pizza. Meanwhile, he was practically meowing with anxiety, his eyes darting around like a robot that lost its GPS signal, his shoulders drooping as if someone had unplugged him, and his voice stretching into endless “nooooo” and “uhhhh” as if auditioning for a Shakespearean tragedy.

Those tension signals don’t automatically mean someone is lying — but they smell suspicious, stronger than a bakery at 6 a.m. Because a lie isn’t just a sentence — it’s a miniature theatre production. The person in front of you is the screenwriter, actor, and lighting technician all at once. And that rarely comes off flawlessly.

Good Cop vs. Bad Cop (Real Life Edition)

Forget the movie scenes where the detective yells, flips tables, and throws folders. In real life, the best “truth hunters” are hyper-empathetic.

They’re the ones who say: “Let’s take it slow… coffee? Cookies? Did you sleep well?”

And then you tell them everything. Even what you didn’t plan to.

I once watched a manager gently and calmly ask an employee about a mistake in a report. Three minutes later, the employee confessed not only to the mistake but also that he’d forgotten to water the office plants the previous Wednesday. When people feel safe, they open up like windows in June.

Ask “Strange” Questions

A liar is prepared like a high school senior before final exams — knows the key points, has the storyline, and has rehearsed the tone. But try asking something unexpected:

“Can you tell me the timeline backwards?”

“What were you holding in your left hand at that moment?”

“Who was standing behind you?”

That’s when you see the little gears in their head overheating. Lies collapse in the details — because details are hard to improvise without cracks.

Once I asked a colleague something he didn’t expect: “What shirt were you wearing that day?”

He started stuttering like a broken modem. And that was it — the lie fell apart.

Voice, Tone, and Words That Reveal Too Much

Stress transforms the voice. Sometimes it jumps an octave; sometimes it cracks like an old record player. And those long pauses — “eeeeee,” “hmmmmm” — that’s not thinking. That’s panic looking for an exit.

If a conversation begins with “Honestly, I’m telling you…”, brace yourself. It’s like the line in a horror movie: “Nothing can possibly go wrong…”

People who tell the truth — just speak. They don’t need fanfare, announcements, or a PR-style “and now, one honest statement.”

Nonverbal Signals: The Body Doesn’t Lie

The body tells its own version of the truth. If language is the main actor, the body is the audience commenting on everything.

Scratching the neck = often self-soothing

Excessive face-touching = a mental reset during deception

Hands disappearing under the table = a desire to “hide”

Unblinking staring = over-control

Rapid blinking = system overload

I once had a conversation with a colleague who insisted “everything’s fine,” while simultaneously wearing down the sleeve of his own jacket. The sleeve said one thing, he said another. Trust the sleeve.

Real-Life Examples

George Santos — a politician whose biography reads more like fan fiction than reality. So many careers, degrees, and heroic episodes that even Marvel would be jealous. Once journalists started asking questions, it all collapsed like an IKEA wardrobe assembled without instructions.

Jay Shetty — the internet’s “spiritual guru.” His story about “three years in an Indian temple” was so inspiring that people clicked instantly. Then it turned out the story had more holes than a parking lot after sewer construction.

We all know someone like that in our neighbourhood. The one who always “knows the right guy,” “has connections,” “almost made it to the Olympics,” or “was this close to getting into reality TV.” When a story becomes too perfect — start digging.

Practical Advice

Listen more than you ask. People reveal themselves.

Notice changes — how someone normally sounds, breathes, looks.

Don’t focus on one signal — look at the whole package.

If something feels “off,” ask: “Can you tell me that again, but slowly?”

Truth likes calm. Lies like speed.

There’s no perfect algorithm for detecting lies. No magic trick. No superpower. But there is intuition, thoughtful questioning, and careful observation. The body often says what the mouth is not allowed to.

And the next time someone says:

“Honestly…”

Just smile and say:

“Good. Let’s start from the beginning.”