We’re all no strangers to lying; we can be guilty of telling what we perceive as harmless white lies, like lying about our age or about someone’s appearance.
But some people are chronic liars, they lie about everything under the sun, some lies can be harmless but other lies can cause havoc on another one’s life.
In today’s’ article, we will list 5 of the most telling signs that you have a liar in front of you so you can learn to spot lies from miles away.
1. A lie is hard to keep up with
The first sign of a liar is inconsistent stories, liars often forget some details of the lie they have been telling, keep track of these inconsistencies, when you spot them try to get the liar to recount a detail or two, again and again, each time you will get a different one.
While with most liars, inconsistencies can be spotted easily, effective liars make it near impossible to do so, they make sure their lies are as close to perfection as possible, some go as far as writing down the details so they never forget a single one of them when asked about them.
2. Ask the unexpected
When you suspect someone is lying to you, ask them a question that will throw them off the script they have rehearsed so many times.
When catching them off guard, liars can have a hard time coming up with an answer, they don’t have enough time to come up with details that continue with the original lie, they can even slip up and tell the truth.
While asking different questions will trip most liars, if the liar in front of you is a seasoned one then most likely they have honed down their details which will make telling the lie a difficult task.
3. Behavior changes
We often hear about how behavior is a huge telltale sign of lying. Body language is amazing at reading peoples’ emotions.
When liars are in the act of telling lies, they can’t control what their bodies are saying because all their effort is focused on giving a coherent version of the lie.
Pay close attention to what their bodies are telling you, are they avoiding eye contact? Do they look hot and bothered? If the answer is yes to these questions then it’s highly probable that they’re lying to you.
While most people perceive lying as an unpleasant activity and feel guilt and remorse about lying, some enjoy deceiving others and making them believe the lies they’re telling them, these are the hardest to spot, their body language is perfectly in sync with the lies they’re telling and their facial expressions don’t show any remorse or shame, they think of misleading people as an enjoyable activity and a challenge to conquer.
4. Pay attention to passing expressions
Also known as micro-expressions, expressions that pass briefly across the face is something you should try to learn to decipher because these expressions can be your best tool at spotting liars.
If you pay close attention, you can spot the discrepancies in facial expressions as soon as they cross the person’s face, a hint of smugness, a little sadness when the person is trying to make us believe they’re fine, these are all things that show a lie from the truth.
Again, effective liars that lie for the thrill very rarely show any micro-expression that’s out of place, they keep up with the lie with their expressions as well as their words and body language. It takes an expert to spot these liars.
5. Extra-long details
When trying to weave a script, liars tend to put extra effort into details, they think the more they talk the easier people will fall into the lie.
When someone goes out of his way to give details of a story then they’re likely lying. For example, if someone is lying about where he has spent his weekend, then he will start by telling you what he had for breakfast and how delicious it was, this is not important to the story but if they’re trying to convince you of something that did not happen, they will give as many details as possible.
However, this is not always the case, thrill liars act normal, they give little details and they’re consistent, they usually take time to write down those details so they don’t get caught out in one. When telling a lie, they give short concise answers and never volunteer any more information when not asked about it.
While some people lie to keep their peace of mind or avoid worrying people, others lie to make their lives more interesting or because they feel they achieved less than they think they deserve and they should make up for it by lying.
There is another type of liars, the worst of all types, telling lies simply for the thrill of it, they can make up story after story and keep up with all of them with no problem at all, they know how to weave a great storyline with enough details to make everyone believe they happened in real life.
They do their best to be great liars and to avoid getting caught red-handed, they see it as a challenge, and the more people deceived by the lies the better they feel about their performances.
Beware of this last type because they will have no qualms about harming you and people around you with their lies.
