Whenever someone communicates with someone else, over 50% of the meaning of a message is conveyed through body language. Your ability to understand nonverbal cues enables you to read people and situations effectively. It all starts with investing your time into learning what certain gestures mean and then using these clues to influence people.
In this article, we provide you with top books on body language, which will train you to make the most of your crucial social interactions. Each product on this list has a unique style of teaching you the necessary fundamentals for nonverbal communication.
The Definitive Book on Body Language (Allan and Barbara Pease)
The Definitive Book on Body Language provides you with many examples of common nonverbal gestures that come up in everyday conversation. The goal of this book is to give you confidence in any discussion, including interviews and presentations.
Many critical lessons are covered in this book, including how handshakes and palms dictate control in an interaction. You also get crucial insights into the typical nonverbal gestures used by people who are not telling the truth. You also learn how both smiles and leg formation reflect what the brain is currently thinking.
This book also gives people confidence in social interactions and dating. There is a whole chapter dedicated to covering the common courtship gestures so that you can read the nonverbal cues of a potential lover. Find it on Amazon.
The Like Switch (Jack Schafer)
The Like Switch, written by an ex-FBI Special Agent, focuses on how to scan people and gauge their opinion of you. This book is perfect for people who want to transform strangers into trusted friends. Schaefer had to use these strategies when profiling terrorists and catching liars. He has done an excellent job of converting these lessons into a simple and straightforward book on body language.
Throughout the book, you will find insights on how to attract, win people over, and reach an agreement. Schafer focuses on how you can increase your likeability factor, and how you can use the friendship formula to your advantage. Find it on Amazon.
The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior (Joe Navarro)
Much like Jack Schafer, Joe Navarro also worked with the FBI and performed many interrogations on dangerous criminals and spies. Since his tenure with the FBI has ended, he has used his talents for public speaking and books, including The Dictionary of Body Language, which includes over 400 strategies and behaviors for determining people’s real motivations.
Navarro provides information on what our subconscious and conscious behaviors genuinely mean. Readers will also gauge how to read someone based on their pupil dilation. There are also insights on what specific postures mean, lip arrangements, and other hand positions. Find it on Amazon.
How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)
The late Dale Carnegie leaves a lifelong legacy with his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. These principles on how to influence others are timeless and useful, no matter the situation. The book reveals the six strategies to make people like you. There are also nine lessons highlighted on how to influence others to your ways of thinking.
An important lesson from this book is gearing the conversation toward the other person and their motivations. Carnegie keeps things simple and effective with his teachings, and he helps you utilize body language and other nonverbal cues to make other people feel important. The book also provides insights on how to motivate others to do mutually beneficial things. Find it on Amazon.
What Everybody is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People (Joe Navarro)
Another book by John Navarro, What Every Body is Saying, gives readers more insights on how to read people’s intentions quickly. It also provides lessons on how to sniff out a liar or untruthful person. Throughout the reading, you will learn the timeless survival instincts that gave rise to common body language gestures.
Navarro also takes a unique approach by pointing out that the face is the last place to gauge a person’s intentions. The book also explains the most influential behaviors that showcase our real confidence and other sentiments. After reading this book, you will be confident in creating trust with others and establishing leadership. Find it on Amazon.
The Secrets of Body Language: An Illustrated Guide to Knowing What People Are Really Thinking and Feeling (Philippe Turchet)
Philippe Turchet’s Secrets of Body Language provide you specific instances of conveying positive, negative, neutral, or ambiguous messages with classic nonverbal cues. The book also communicates the importance of body language in all areas of our life.
Throughout the book, readers will understand the process of reading emotions. There are also lessons on how to understand covert feelings. The book also goes in-depth and what the hands and wrists reveal in conversations when it comes to opinions. Overall, this book is excellent in understanding the messages you give off, so you can study yourself and become a better nonverbal communicator. Find it on Amazon.
The Power of Body Language: How to Succeed in Every Business and Social Encounter (Tonya Reiman)
Tonya Reiman’s The Power of Body Language gives you a personalized game plan in making the most out of every social interaction. You will learn how to influence others by reading their emotions and nonverbal thoughts about you. You will gain an extra sense of self-awareness because Reiman highlights how you can exhibit confidence and leadership with your gestures.
The book also provides insights on gaining trust, making a lasting first impression, and how to take ownership of your nonverbal gestures. Reiman also provides the top body language symbols that people give off when they are hiding the truth. The book also takes a different approach and explains why women and men communicate differently. Find it on Amazon.
How to Analyze People: The Definitive Guide to Speed Reading People on Sight Using Dark Psychology Techniques, Body Language and Emotional Intelligence with Manipulation Secrets to Influence People (Scott Habits)
Scott Habits’ book on body language provides you a blueprint on how to get a read on someone quickly. The book talks about the essential reasons you should learn body language, including the fundamentals of analyzing human behavior. Scott also delivers a step-by-step process of utilizing our body language to inspire change and influence on others.
This book also does an excellent job of providing the many instances that someone could be lying, listing out 25 cases. There are also unique and exciting tactics on determining personality traits in others, which helps win people to your way of thinking. Find it on Amazon.
Without Saying a Word: Master the Science of Body Language and Maximize Your Success (Kasia Wezowski)
Kasie Wezowski’s Without Saying a Word gives readers a comprehensive guide on how to communicate and understand people effectively through gestures, postures, and expressions. The book outlines how people’s mouths can express their opinions, including the power of a smile. Wezowski also explains the meaning of certain facial expressions and what negative and positive indicators are.
The book also explains what kinds of postures and facial expressions are most likely to influence others. There are also tips and strategies to help you build positive, foundational habits for body language. Find it on Amazon.
Body Language Mastery: 4 Books in 1: The Ultimate Psychology Guide to Analyzing, Reading and Influencing People Using Body Language, Emotional Intelligence, Psychological Persuasion and Manipulation (Brandon Cooper)
Brandon Cooper’s collection of four body language books covers everything you need to know about the topic. His first book teaches critical lessons in analyzing people, reflecting on a psychologist’s recommendation on how to speed read someone. There are also crucial lessons on how to communicate with certain personality types.
Cooper also dives into topics like emotional intelligence, manipulation, and persuasion in his other books. You will learn key strategies in understanding people, using your nonverbal cues to inspire people, and how to persuade people to your way of thinking. Find it on Amazon.
Our Recommendation: How to Win Friends and Influence People
As you can see, there are many impactful books that you can ready to help improve your body language awareness. Our top choice would have to be Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. The book does an excellent job of hitting all the critical areas of speaking and listening using the power of body language. It uses insightful, real-world examples, which helps you duplicate the behaviors in your everyday life. Find it on Amazon.
