You’re sitting in a circle, maybe it's a stiff corporate retreat or a housewarming party where you only know the host, and someone drops the dreaded sentence: "Let’s play Two Truths and a Lie." Your stomach ties in a knot. Suddenly, your entire life feels incredibly boring. You can’t remember a single interesting thing you’ve ever done, and your brain is frantically trying to decide if "I have a cat" is too dull or if "I once met a minor celebrity in a bathroom" is too weird.
It's the ultimate icebreaker. People use it because it’s easy. Or, well, it’s supposed to be easy. In reality, most people are terrible at it. They pick lies that are too obvious or truths that are so mundane they might as well be lies.
If you want to stop being the person who says "I like pizza" as their truth, you need a strategy. This isn't just about tricking people; it's about the psychology of deception and how we perceive "normal" behavior in others.
The Psychology of the Two Truths and a Lie Strategy
Most people think this game is about being a good liar. It’s not. It’s actually about being a good curator of your own reality. The best players aren't necessarily the ones with the wildest lives; they're the ones who understand how to package the mundane so it looks suspicious.
Think about how our brains process information during a game of Two Truths and a Lie. We look for "tells." We look for the person who over-explains their lie. We look for the person who blushes when they talk about the time they jumped out of a plane. But experienced researchers in the field of deception, like Dr. Paul Ekman—the guy who literally wrote the book on facial expressions—will tell you that "tells" aren't as universal as we think.
People often lie by adding too much detail. They feel like they need to build a world around the lie to make it "load-bearing." If I tell you I have a brother named Dave who lives in Seattle and works for Microsoft, that’s a lot of specific hooks for you to snag. If I just say, "I have a brother in Seattle," it's much harder to debunk.
Why Your "Wildest" Truth Often Fails
Here is the kicker: your most impressive truth is often your biggest liability. If you actually did win a regional hot dog eating contest, people will often assume it's the lie because it sounds like a classic "fake" fact.
On the flip side, the best lies are the ones that are boring.
📖 Related: Why an image of a globe still breaks our brains
If you say, "I’ve never broken a bone," "I’ve been to France," and "I once saved a drowning squirrel," everyone is going for the squirrel. It's too cinematic. It's too "story-like." If you want to win, you have to lean into the "Expected Average."
Crafting the Perfect Lies
The lie should be a "near-miss" of the truth.
Say you actually have two sisters. A great lie is saying you have three. It’s a small adjustment. You don't have to invent a whole new persona or a fake history. You just shift the number. When you speak about your siblings, your body language remains relaxed because you are thinking about your actual sisters. You're just slightly misrepresenting the count.
Psychologists call this "cognitive load." When you lie, your brain has to work harder. You have to suppress the truth while simultaneously inventing a narrative. By keeping the lie close to the truth, you reduce that load. You don't trip over your words because the foundation is real.
Another trick? The "Borrowing" Technique.
Take a true story that happened to your best friend or your cousin. Use it as your lie. Since it actually happened, you can describe the details—the smell of the air, the color of the car—with a level of vividness that's hard to fake. You aren't imagining a scenario; you're recalling a story you know well. You're just swapping the protagonist.
Formatting Your Delivery
How you sequence your statements in Two Truths and a Lie matters more than you think.
- The Sandwich: Truth, Lie, Truth. This is the most common. People tend to remember the first and last things they hear. By burying the lie in the middle, you're hoping it gets lost in the shuffle.
- The Double Bluff: Lie, Truth, Truth. Starting with the lie is bold. Most people assume the first thing out of your mouth is the "safe" truth to get the ball rolling.
- The "One of These Things is Not Like the Others": This is when you provide two very boring truths and one slightly interesting lie. People will gravitate toward the interesting one every time.
Real World Examples that Work
Let's look at a few sets. See if you can spot the "energy" of these.
Example Set A:
- I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie.
- I once won $500 on a scratch-off ticket.
- I am allergic to kiwi.
In this set, the "allergic to kiwi" feels like a filler. The "Star Wars" one is a classic "weird but true" for many. The scratch-off is the perfect lie because it’s totally plausible but has no way of being verified.
Example Set B:
- I spoke at my high school graduation.
- I’ve traveled to 15 countries.
- I have a fear of escalators.
The escalator fear is a "quirk" lie. People love quirks. They want to believe them. It makes you seem human.
The Art of the Follow-Up
The game doesn't end when you finish your three sentences. Usually, there's a round of questioning. This is where most people crack.
If someone asks a question about your lie, don't answer immediately. Pause. Act like you’re trying to remember. If you answer too fast, it looks rehearsed. If you give a "yes" or "no" and then stop, it looks defensive.
Give a "Yes, and..." answer.
🔗 Read more: Weather in Bonita Springs Florida Today: What Most People Get Wrong
"Did you really win $500 on a scratch-off?"
"Yeah, it was at a 7-Eleven right before a road trip. I ended up spending most of it on gas and snacks for everyone, which was a mistake in hindsight."
That extra bit of "flavor"—the 7-Eleven, the regret about the snacks—makes it feel like a lived memory.
Spotting the Lie in Others
When it's your turn to guess, stop looking for "eye contact" or "fidgeting." Those are myths. Plenty of honest people are nervous or avoid eye contact. Instead, listen for the "Flow of Detail."
Truthful people usually tell stories in a non-linear way. They might remember a detail later and circle back. "Oh, and it was raining, I forgot to mention that." Liars usually tell a story in a strict chronological order because they've practiced it that way in their head.
Also, look for "Distancing Language."
A person telling the truth uses "I," "me," and "my." A person lying might subconsciously start using more general terms or omit pronouns. They want to distance themselves from the lie they are telling.
Why We Love This Game
At its core, Two Truths and a Lie isn't about winning or losing. It's a social tool. It's a way to skip the small talk about the weather and jump straight into "What makes you, you?"
We learn that the quiet guy in accounting actually hiked the Appalachian Trail. We learn that the bubbly HR manager is secretly terrified of butterflies. It's a shortcut to intimacy.
But, honestly, it's also fun to be a little bit of a con artist for five minutes.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Game
If you're heading into a situation where you know this game is coming, do these three things:
- Audit your "Boring" Facts: Find truths that sound fake. Did you go to school with someone famous? Do you have a weird physical trait (like being double-jointed)? These are your gold mines.
- The "Close-to-Home" Lie: Pick a lie that is 90% true. If you have a dog, say you have a dog of a different breed. If you work in marketing, say you work in sales. It keeps your vibe consistent.
- The "Reverse-Psychology" Delivery: Deliver your lie with the most confidence and your truths with a slight "I know this sounds weird" shrug.
Don't overthink it. It's a game. But next time you're asked to share, don't just reach for the first thing that comes to mind. Think like a storyteller. Or better yet, think like a storyteller who's trying to hide the ending.
The best way to prep is to keep a running list in your notes app. Whenever something slightly odd happens to you, write it down. Those are your future "truths." For the lies? Just look at your life and change one small, insignificant detail.
📖 Related: June 2nd Zodiac: Why These Geminis Are Different From The Rest
Keep your sentences short. Stay relaxed. And whatever you do, don't mention the squirrel unless it's actually true.
The real secret is that people want to be entertained more than they want to be right. Give them a good story, and even if they catch your lie, they’ll appreciate the effort. Stick to the mundane-weird crossover and you'll be the one everyone remembers by the end of the night.
Ready your three statements. Practice them once in the mirror to make sure you don't smirk. Then go out there and play.