How to Handle Difficult People: 7 Psychological Tricks to Read Anyone, Spot a Liar & Stay in Control

The Mel Robbins Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts

Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Relationships

4.7 • 15.3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In today’s episode, a former secret service agent shares exactly how to read body language, handle difficult people, and know when someone is lying. You’ll also learn psychological tricks to spot manipulation, master your emotions, gain respect, and get what you want without being pulled into other people’s drama. Today, Mel is bringing back one of the most tactical and empowering conversations ever on The Mel Robbins Podcast, with a brand new introduction and new insights for right now. Her guest is Evy Poumpouras, a former secret service agent who has protected 5 former U.S presidents. She is a “human lie detector” who has been specially trained in the art of lie detection, human behavior, and cognitive influence. And today, she is giving you a masterclass of all of her best secrets from over 3 decades of training and experience. Evy’s extensive and decorated career includes operating undercover, complex criminal investigations, and working as an interrogator for the Secret Service’s elite polygraph unit. And in this special episode, she’s here to arm you with information, tools, and strategies so you can read people more clearly, communicate with confidence, and know what to do next. In this episode, you’ll learn: -How to read someone in the first few minutes -How to stay in control when someone is trying to bait you -The body language cue that shows someone wants out of a conversation -Why eye contact is not the lie detector people think it is -How to spot when someone’s words and actions don’t match -How to stay grounded when someone is trying to pull you into their chaos -Why the most manipulative people in your life may be the ones closest to you People are always showing you who they are. This episode teaches you how to stop missing it. For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page. If you liked the episode, check out this one next: Communicate with Confidence: The Blueprint for Mastering Every Conversation Connect with Mel: Order Mel’s new product, Pure Genius Protein Get Mel’s newsletter, packed with tools, coaching, and inspiration. Get Mel’s #1 bestselling book, The Let Them Theory Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast Instagram Mel's TikTok Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-free Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.
0:09.3	Is it just me? Or are people being ruder, acting more entitled, or flat out lying to you and having
0:17.9	zero shame about it? There's always going to be difficult people in your life,
0:22.5	but it feels like there are more and more of them every single day, don't you agree? And I know
0:28.8	I'm not alone in feeling this, because I see your questions rolling in at melrobbins.com,
0:33.9	and I see all your comments on YouTube and Spotify, you're tired of dealing with difficult people
0:41.0	and you're looking for very tactical strategies. How do you read people? How do you protect your
0:47.4	energy? How do you spot a liar? How do you not get sucked into other people's drama?
0:53.8	How do you stay in control so that you don't get
0:56.2	baited or manipulated or played by somebody who's difficult? Just this weekend, I was so
1:03.2	frustrated with a particular person in my life that I went back and re-listened to an episode
1:10.7	with Evie Pomporus, a former U.S. Secret
1:14.7	Service agent, who was also a member of their elite polygraph unit, which basically means
1:21.0	she is a human lie detector who's been tasked with using science-back techniques to be absolutely sure if she was
1:30.0	getting the truth or not. If somebody was trying to play her or they were acting straight up,
1:35.1	I re-listened to the episode that she appeared on, and I was like, oh, my God, these strategies
1:40.4	are so good. I feel so much more powerful.
1:44.4	I'm gonna better boundaries and be able to spot all these liars and manipulative people.
1:48.6	And I thought, I have to share this with you.
1:50.7	I mean, based on the state of the world and how so many people are behaving right now, you
1:56.2	need to listen to this.
1:57.8	Because she's gonna teach you all about body language, how to spot a liar,
	...

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