Episode 2: What liars do differently – Language, behaviour, and the truth

In Episode 2 of Fool Me Twice, the conversation moves beyond why people lie and into something far more revealing. What do liars actually do differently from people telling the truth?

The episode opens with a deceptively simple question most of us ask every day. How are you? What appears to be a polite greeting is often an invitation to edit reality rather than reveal it. Social convention encourages people to offer safe answers, and that instinct to manage information sits on the same behavioural spectrum as more serious forms of deception.

Drawing on years of police interview experience, the discussion explores how truthful people communicate in a fundamentally different way. When someone is telling the truth, they naturally include sensory detail, consistent timelines, and personal ownership. They talk about what they saw, heard, felt, and experienced because they lived it. Liars, by contrast, must invent or embellish, which creates cognitive strain. That strain often reveals itself through shifting tense, vague language, evasive answers, or responding to questions with questions.

One of the central insights of the episode is that most people do not start by lying outright. They begin by avoiding, editing, or redirecting information. Only when those strategies fail do they resort to an outright lie. By that point, inconsistencies often begin to appear. This leakage can show up in language, body movement, or vocal delivery, especially when a fabricated story has to be maintained under pressure.

The episode also challenges popular myths about deception. Confident speakers, politicians, and narcissists are not necessarily good liars. In fact, confidence often leads people to expose themselves more. The conversation pushes back against crime television fantasies popularised by shows like CSI, noting that real investigations rely far more on rapport, listening, and behavioural analysis than instant forensic results.

Importantly, the hosts emphasise that deception is not limited to criminals. It appears in everyday life, from social interactions to sport to comedy. Comedy itself is framed as a harmless form of deception, where the audience understands that they are being led in one direction before expectations are subverted for humour rather than harm.

The key takeaway from Episode 2 is simple but powerful. Truth tends to flow, while lies take effort. Detecting deception is not about spotting a single tell. It is about observing patterns, clusters of behaviour, and changes from a person’s normal way of communicating. And in doing so, listeners are encouraged to recognise that deception is not just something other people do. It is something we all engage in, often without realising it.

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