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Honesty and Deception:
How to Spot a Liar

They say honesty is the best policy, but honestly, how many people truly live by that? Sadly, we live in a world surrounded by deception and lies. Lying is common in all our relationships — people are inherently selfish and will often lie or stretch the truth to protect themselves.

The good news is that most liars aren’t very good at it! We’ve compiled a list of nine little gestures people make when they aren’t telling the truth, so you can better detect deception. Make sure you read until the end because the last one is the biggest giveaway.
 

1. The Hands

Liars often use gestures with their hands after they speak, rather than during or before a conversation, like most truthful people do. This is because the brain is multitasking — balancing bits of truth while constructing a believable lie.

A 2015 study by a university in Michigan analyzed 120 media clips from high-stakes court cases. It found that those who lied were more likely to gesture with both hands — 40% of liars did this compared to only 25% of truth-tellers.

Additionally, liars might position their hands away from you, put them in their pockets, or hide them under the table. If someone is being dishonest, keep an eye on their hands.
 

2. Looking Uncomfortable

Scratching, fidgeting, rocking back and forth, cocking the head to one side, or shuffling feet — these can all signal deception.

These behaviors stem from nervousness, which triggers tingling sensations that cause a person to fidget. These movements are subtle but can indicate dishonesty.
 

3. Grooming Behaviors

Liars often twirl their hair, straighten their clothes, or make other grooming gestures. These behaviors stem from a subconscious need for control. When lying, people may feel out of sorts, so readjusting themselves helps them feel more secure.

Look out for small, unnecessary movements that indicate a need for control or a lack of awareness about what they are doing.
 

4. The Eyes

Someone telling a lie is extremely likely to break eye contact at a crucial moment. This happens due to guilt, fear of being caught, or because they are thinking about what to say next.

Interestingly, the same Michigan study found that 70% of liars maintained direct eye contact, possibly as an overcompensation. This means that both excessive staring and avoiding eye contact can signal deception.

Debunking a Myth: The idea that people always look to the left when lying is false. Everyone has different “tells.” A liar could look in any direction.
 

5. The Mouth

A liar might fold or roll their lips back so they almost vanish. This is an unconscious attempt to hold back emotions or facts.

Also, pursed lips often indicate a person doesn’t want to engage in the conversation — another potential sign of dishonesty.
 

6. Complexion

You’ve probably heard the phrase “white as a sheet” — this can literally happen when someone is lying. When nervous, blood may leave the face, causing a paler appearance.

This is a powerful tell because it is completely involuntary. While liars might control their facial expressions, they cannot prevent their complexion from changing.
 

7. Sweating or Dryness

The autonomic nervous system can cause opposite reactions in liars: excessive sweating or sudden dryness.

Signs of sweating to watch for:

Upper lip . . . Forehead . . . Chin . . . Around the mouth . . .

Signs of dryness to watch for:
Increased blinking
Squinting
Frequent lip licking or biting

Both sweating and dryness signal discomfort, which can point to deception.
 

8. The Voice

A liar’s voice may become higher-pitched due to vocal cord tension caused by stress. Other vocal signs include:

Breaks in speech
Clearing the throat
Sudden voice volume changes (getting louder when defensive)

Truthful people don’t usually raise their voice to defend themselves—liars often do.
 

9. Overcompensating in Speech

Liars often try to convince rather than simply state facts. Watch for phrases like:

“I want to be honest with you.”

“I’ll tell you the truth.”

“To be perfectly honest…”

Truthful people don’t need to emphasize their honesty — liars do.

Other speech-related signs of deception include:

Using “thinking” words like “um,” “errr,” and “like” (buying time to construct a lie)

Pausing mid-sentence (a liar must work harder to structure a false story)

Freudian slips (accidental truth-revealing mistakes)

Inconsistencies in their story (truthful accounts are easier to recall accurately)
 

The Bottom Line

Most people are bad liars. Lying is uncomfortable and requires more cognitive effort than telling the truth. As a result, truth tends to slip out at some stage, forcing liars to correct themselves.

By recognizing these nine common signs, you can become more adept at spotting deception.
 
 

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Questions

 

Nervous. The vast majority of people are perfectly straightforward and honest. True or false? Is it easy or difficult to tell if someone is lying?

Uncomfortable. When someone lies, do they use more, less or the same amount of hand gestures as someone who is telling the truth?

Is there more than one sign or indication of lying?

Stutter. Do people who lie always sit or stand perfectly still?

Hesitate. When lying, do people avoid eye contact, have fixed eye contact, both, in the middle, or it depends?

Sweat. Liars normally part their lips or open their mouths. Is this right or wrong?

Blink. What can you say about a speaker’s complexion and moisture on their skin, eyes, and mouth?

Stare. Might a person’s tone of voice, pitch, speed, and volume change?

Avoid Eye Contact. What are some words, phrases, sentences, or interjections that signal deception or lies?
 
 
 

Fidget. Are are you familiar with these traits, patterns and characteristics? Are they the same in your culture?

Scratch. I have encountered many people who I had felt or could tell were lying. Yes or no?

Deny. What can you say about “white lies” vs deception, dishonesty, malicious lies, treachery.

Convoluted. What could or should people, schools, governments and societies do?

Shifty, Restless. What might happen in the future?