A trial lawyer reveals what word will get you caught lying
According to a trial lawyer, the real giveaway to catch someone lying, lies in their vocabulary.
Most people tend to think that odd body language such as shifty eyes, fidgeting, and overall nervous behaviour point to someone not being entirely truthful.
However, Jefferson Fisher, a Texas-based attorney and communication coach, says people who lie often will tend to use words that express extremity.
He told The Diary of a CEO podcast that there’s one word in particular liars are inclined to reach for: ‘never’.
“Never is an extreme. Extremes are a dead giveaway that they’re usually not telling the truth,” the trial lawyer claims.
Fisher goes on to prove his point by giving an example straight out of the courtroom. When you ask someone if they were texting while driving, a deceptive answer might be, “No, I never text when I drive.”
On the face of it, it sounds confident, albeit too confident.
“Everybody texts while they drive at some point,” he added. “That’s why the word stands out.”
Fisher explains that liars often immediately respond without pausing or thinking.
This is due to the fact that they’re not recalling a memory, rather they’re jumping straight to a rehearsed version of the truth.
If you want to call the liar out without causing a scene, Fisher recommends repeating the extreme back to the person, slowly and deliberately: “You never text while driving?” That one sentence will evoke a wavering reaction.
“What they’ll do most often is say, ‘Well, I mean, sometimes I do,’” Fisher said. “Now they know—‘never’ is a risk word.”
That moment of doubt and backpedalling is a dead giveaway. However triumphant you might feel in that moment, you don’t want to ‘pounce’ on the liar.
Instead, Fisher says, “Give them an out.” Saying something like “If you were texting, it’s OK” can ease the pressure and allow them to be honest.
A different strategy could be to use silence.
“Silence is the ultimate nemesis of liars,” Fisher says. “They create dialogues in their minds for you.”
Silence can make a situation feel so uncomfortable, that the person will start explaining themselves without even being asked to.
Fisher concludes that when someone insists they never did something? Don’t rush to call them out, instead pause and let the silence do the work.
You might be surprised by what they say next.
