MEET THE HUMAN LIE DETECTOR!

Steve van Aperen is peeling back the layers - one fib at a time

- Maisy Rae

We’ve all been a little creative with the truth or told a white lie to a friend about her “lovely” outfit, but just how good are we at getting away with it?

“If somebody’s lying, you usually find holes in their stories – they’ll contradict themselves and won’t put themselves in the narrative,” says Steve van Aperen, 59.

The human behavioural expert has helped put away some of the world’s most violent criminals and murderers using his powers of detection.

Speaking to Woman’s Day from his home in Melbourne, Steve hasn’t switched off his inner detective, analysing each and every question he’s asked, playfully flipping the script and putting us under the spotlight. It’s nerve-racking, despite our innocent chat.

“We’re all humans, whether we commit a crime by lying, or we lie about how we feel, to attract a partner or to save face,” he says.

Dubbed the “Human Lie Detector” following a stint on US television, Steve regularly faces the toughest questions from his family and friends about their teenage children running rampant or what it means if their partner has come home late.

But when he’s not helping solve family frictions, Steve travels the world training CEOs of fi nancial institutions, airlines and government agencies.

It’s not bad for a former cop who started out with the Victoria Police in the 1980s.