Net­flix has a lim­it­ed se­ries on the Depp vs Heard defama­tion tri­al that is worth watch­ing. We are aware that hon­esty and trust are im­por­tant pil­lars of any re­la­tion­ship. While it’s im­pos­si­ble to be­come a hu­man lie de­tec­tor, un­der­stand­ing the sub­tle cues and be­hav­iour­al pat­terns as­so­ci­at­ed with ly­ing can sig­nif­i­cant­ly im­prove your abil­i­ty to spot when some­one might be bend­ing the truth. Be­low are six com­mon signs that can help you iden­ti­fy when some­one might be ly­ing.

1. In­con­sis­ten­cies in Their Sto­ry

One of the first red flags to watch for is in­con­sis­ten­cies in the per­son’s ex­pla­na­tion. If their ex­pla­na­tion changes every time they retell it, or if they strug­gle to keep their de­tails straight, it might in­di­cate that they’re fab­ri­cat­ing or al­ter­ing the truth. Lis­ten care­ful­ly and note any dis­crep­an­cies be­tween dif­fer­ent retellings. Pay at­ten­tion to any gaps in the nar­ra­tive, as these omis­sions could be a sign that some­one is try­ing to ma­nip­u­late the truth to their ad­van­tage. If you’re fa­mil­iar with cer­tain facts or events re­lat­ed to the top­ic of dis­cus­sion, be vig­i­lant for any con­tra­dic­tions.

2. Avoid­ing Eye Con­tact

Al­though it’s a bit of a stereo­type, avoid­ing eye con­tact can some­times be a sign of dis­hon­esty. Some peo­ple find it dif­fi­cult to main­tain eye con­tact when they’re ly­ing due to feel­ings of guilt, anx­i­ety, or fear of be­ing caught. How­ev­er, this alone isn’t a fool­proof in­di­ca­tor, as cul­tur­al dif­fer­ences and per­son­al dis­com­fort can al­so play a role. There are some peo­ple who will stare straight at you and lie con­vinc­ing­ly.

3. Changes in Vo­cal Pat­terns

When peo­ple lie, they may ex­pe­ri­ence phys­i­o­log­i­cal changes that af­fect their vo­cal pat­terns. These can in­clude speak­ing more soft­ly, high­er, or faster than usu­al. In some cas­es, you might no­tice hes­i­ta­tions, stut­ters, or a change in pitch when they’re dis­cussing cer­tain top­ics. Lis­ten­ing skills can be quite usu­al in pick­ing up the change in vo­cal pat­terns.

4. Body Lan­guage Clues

Non­ver­bal cues can speak vol­umes about a per­son’s hon­esty. Watch for signs like fid­get­ing, cross­ing arms, touch­ing the face or mouth, or ex­ces­sive groom­ing ges­tures. These ac­tions can in­di­cate ner­vous­ness or dis­com­fort, which might stem from telling a lie. On the oth­er hand, some in­di­vid­u­als may be­come un­usu­al­ly still and con­trolled when ly­ing, so it’s im­por­tant to con­sid­er the con­text and over­all be­hav­iour.

5. Un­usu­al Emo­tion­al Re­spons­es

When some­one is ly­ing, their emo­tion­al re­spons­es might not align with the sit­u­a­tion. For ex­am­ple, they might re­act with laugh­ter when dis­cussing a se­ri­ous mat­ter, or they might dis­play anger or de­fen­sive­ness in­stead of the ex­pect­ed sad­ness or re­morse. These mis­matched emo­tion­al re­spons­es could in­di­cate that they’re try­ing to mask their true feel­ings.

6. Gut Feel­ing and In­tu­ition

Some­times, your in­stincts can pro­vide valu­able in­sight. If some­thing feels off or doesn’t align with your in­tu­ition, there might be a rea­son for it. Our sub­con­scious mind can of­ten pick up on cues that our con­scious mind miss­es, lead­ing to a feel­ing of dis­com­fort or sus­pi­cion. While it’s es­sen­tial to re­ly on more con­crete signs, don’t com­plete­ly dis­count your gut feel­ing ei­ther.

De­tect­ing when some­one is ly­ing is a skill that re­quires a com­bi­na­tion of ob­ser­va­tion, em­pa­thy, and un­der­stand­ing of hu­man be­hav­iour. It’s im­por­tant to note that while these signs can be in­dica­tive of dis­hon­esty, they are not fool­proof in­di­ca­tors. Some­times, peo­ple may ex­hib­it these be­hav­iours due to oth­er rea­sons such as stress, anx­i­ety, or per­son­al dis­com­fort. In­stead of jump­ing to con­clu­sions, use these ob­ser­va­tions as start­ing points for fur­ther con­ver­sa­tions and in­ves­ti­ga­tions.

Main­tain­ing open com­mu­ni­ca­tion and trust is cru­cial in any re­la­tion­ship. If you sus­pect some­one might be ly­ing, ap­proach the sit­u­a­tion with care and re­spect. Keep in mind that false ac­cu­sa­tions can dam­age re­la­tion­ships and cre­ate un­nec­es­sary con­flicts. By be­com­ing more at­tuned to these signs, you can nav­i­gate sit­u­a­tions with greater aware­ness and make more in­formed judg­ments about the truth­ful­ness of the in­for­ma­tion be­ing pre­sent­ed to you.