A shift is a question, not a lie — a framework by Ole Wang

Hand-drawn diagram of framework 378, A shift is a question, not a lie: Notice the shift. Ask. Don't accuse. — Framework 378 · in one look

How to use it

Learn someone's normal (how they sit, look, sound). When it shifts on one topic, get curious and ask a follow-up. Don't conclude they're lying: people catch lies only a little better than a coin flip, and body language is a poor lie detector.

How sure we are

S Evidence: strong. Large trials or many studies, pointing the same way.

C Evidence: contested. The research disagrees. Named, so you can stop worrying about it.

Sources

Across 206 studies and 24,483 judges, people detected lies with 54% accuracy (Bond & DePaulo 2006, meta-analysis, 🟢) · baselines as a reason to ask: Evy Poumpouras (🟠) · lie-spotting from body language graded 🔴 · see 286.

Not medical, legal or financial advice.

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