How to tell if someone is lying (some pro-tips):

–their story never changes. They say the same things over and over again because they have to practice a script.

The best way to trip up a liar — keep asking questions! People who are telling the truth can talk all night long because they can add new, relevant details and not worry about contradicting themselves.

–the story starts from the beginning and follows through to the end. Someone truthful tells you what is important first and then continues to the least important part. Someone who is lying will tell you a chronological tale via a script because all stories have a beginning, a middle and an end.

–people in the story get a pronoun change. Some of the story sounds like a grocery list: I went to work and had lunch. Later you might hear that they watched a film with a friend and went to bed. When you ask more questions, this friend is a no-name “they” and they had lunch? With their co-workers? Alone? When you get an answer, it likely sounds like, “I think I had lunch alone” or “Maybe I watched a movie with George”. You feel like when explanations happen, you are missing huge pieces to the story, “I only did this one thing when I got home”. Notice the wording — they certainly did many other things before they got home!

–they suddenly forget things or feign not understanding. Questions are answered with questions. “Why would you think I was at his house?” (Maybe that is not where they were, but a simple “no” would do).

–notice their body language: when they explain themselves, are they overdoing it? Making eye contact when they usually do not (or vice versa)? They are doing this to prove that they can look you in the eye and tell the “truth”. When they smile, do their eyes smile with them? No eye crinkling in the corners means that they are not relaxed – be aware of what they are saying.

–words and actions/mannerisms should match: laughing while being questioned is a no-brainer, but other subtle things should be noticed. Are they tense when you ask why they did not pick up the phone? One tiny blip might be nothing, but many checks including words that do not match the way they are behaving could be the red flag that you need to gtfo.