How to ...
Tell when someone is lying

Call it a hunch, intuition, or sixth sense, but sometimes you just know another person isn’t being straight with you. While no surefire method for detecting lies exists–even polygraph tests aren’t always reliable–knowing how to interpret physical and verbal cues from a person can help you decide if your instincts are correct.

Below are a few examples of behaviors that could coincide with someone telling a lie. Keep in mind that they are all signs of stress, and that someone can exhibit these behaviors and be telling the truth. But if more than one of these appears and you already suspect a lie, chances are your instincts are right.

• Any nervous movements: shifting feet, smoothing of clothes, hair twirling
• A change in eye contact, especially looking away or at the ground
• Voice changes: talking with a higher pitch or suddenly changing speech patterns
• Covering the face or mouth
• Turning away from you

Mixed signals coming from a person can also indicate a lie. If a potential client assures you he’ll list with you and gives a firm handshake with a big smile on his face, you may feel confident he means it. However, if his eyes dart to the ground and he turns his body away, don’t spend that commission just yet.

All these hints assume you’re standing face-to-face with a person. It’s tougher, however, to read someone over the phone. You can’t see feet shuffling through your cell phone, but you can pick up verbal cues.

Listen for nervous laughter or rapid explanations with lots of extraneous information. Interrupt the person with questions to slow him down. Ask him to repeat things and take note of hesitations and inconsistencies. As you probe, it will become more obvious whether or not someone is telling you the truth.

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