Who needs Jeremy Kyle’s lie detector? Here are FOUR easy ways to spot if someone is lying to you

WHETHER it’s a little white lie or a massive porker, being able to spot if someone is telling the truth can be a tricky business.

Research has revealed we are told up to 200 lies every day – making it just as likely we’re dishing them out left, right and centre as we are hearing them.

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Often it’s as simple as, ‘my phone died’ or, ‘it’s nothing, I’m fine’.

But according to Noah Zandan, author of TED-ED lesson The Language of Lying, the lies we tell are usually aimed at giving a better impression of ourselves to others.

But Zandan argued the best way to tell if a person is fibbing is not necessarily resorting to a lie detector test, Jeremy Kyle-style.

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He recommends taking a simpler, more direct approach, using basic communication science to analyse the lies themselves.

He explained: “We’ve spent much of our history coming up with ways to detect them, from medieval torture devices to polygraphs, blood pressure and breathing monitors, stress analysers, eye trackers, infra-red brain scanners and the electroencephalogram.

“But although such tools have worked under certain circumstances, most can be fooled with enough preparation and none are considered reliable enough to even be admissible in court.”

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He said the way to tell if someone is lying boils down to four simple tests which don’t require any fancy machinery.

Here are the ultimate ways to spot a liar.

1. Minimal self-references

Someone who's lying is likely to try to keep any references to themselves to a bare minimum.

This is because it distances them for the deception.

Instead of saying, ‘Nope, it wasn’t me’ they’re more likely to say, ‘Nope, that didn’t happen’.

2. Being negative

If a person is using negative language, that’s usually a sign they’re telling porkies.

Subconsciously they probably feel pretty guilty about telling fibs, so they tend to express negativity as a result.

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3. Keeping it simple

Given liars are often making stuff up on the spot, their stories tend to be more simplified.

Keep an eye out for generalised explanations.

4. Overly-complex phrases

Confusingly, although fibbers tend to keep their stories and excuses simple, they also have a tendency to go on a bit, padding it out with unnecessary and irrelevant detail.

So watch out for disjointed sentences and waffling.