Spy the Lie

Spy the Lie is a collection of professional tips on how to more accurately detect when someone is lying to you through a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues.

One reason it can be hard to spot a lie is that it’s hard for us to focus on both verbal and nonverbal cues at the same time. It’s difficult to notice both on what someone is saying and what their body language is saying, making it easy to miss crucial clues.

Another problem is that we all have biases. Biases easily dictate how trustworthy we believe someone is, and it can make it hard to believe someone is lying.

An example of this was when a young girl in California accused a satanic cult leader of molesting many young children. He denied the accusations, but the public immediately was convinced he was guilty. It came out that her story was completely fabricated and everyone was shocked.

Their biases had made it all too easy for them to think the cult leader was lying. This is an example of why we can’t underestimate the power of our biases when we want to sort out the truth.

When people don’t have anything to hide, they give direct answers to direct questions. Liars, on the other hand, tend to try to reinforce your faith in them by giving strings of “convincing statements.” An example of a convincing statement is, “It’s not in my nature to do something like that,” or “No one would ever question my honesty.” While statements like these sound convincing, especially if they sound sincere, it’s important to not let them get you off track. Here are more useful verbal cues of a lie: Repeating the question. This is done to buy more time to think, or because guilty people are more likely to find silence awkward. Failure to answer. If they start to feel like you know, they might clam up or pretend they don’t hear you. Overly specific answers. Liars tend to give complex and overly detailed answers to questions to sound convincing. Failure to deny. You should be wary if they don’t answer questions with a direct “Yes” or “No.” Non-specific denial. When they don’t respond to anything directly but instead use phrases like “I didn’t do anything.” Reluctance to answer. This is when they give you answers like “I don’t know if I can answer that question.” Inconsistent statements. A big clue, because it’s hard to keep lies straight. Going into attack mode. If they suddenly get angry when backed into a corner, this is a huge red flag. Here are some visual cues of a lie: Nodding “Yes” but saying “No.” Throat clearing and swallowing.…