Top 6 books about reading people that will forever change your life.
People are open books, you just have to learn how to read them. The story is written all over their face and body. The way they sit, move, and talk will tell you more about a person than their words ever will. You’ll be surprised as to how much you can learn about a person just by observing their legs.
We like to think that we are in total control of our bodies. But the truth is most of the time brain is the one running this ship. And it constantly sends out messages about its internal state.
Learn to read those messages with the help of these books about reading people and their body language.
6 Best books on reading people’s body language
The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior – Joe Navarro
It’s one of the most valuable books about reading people. You can learn to take just one look at a person and know exactly how they are feeling, their comfort level and what are their feelings about you.
As the title states, the book is written like a dictionary. It is a reference book of sorts and covers over 400 cues and body signals. Unlike the usual dictionary that is organized alphabetically, The Dictionary of Body Language is organized by body parts. This makes it really convenient to use. You can go through one body part at a time and then get out among people and try to “read” as many cues as possible. Unfortunately, it has no pictures which for the visual learner is a small minus. Although you can use it as a stand-alone book, it’s really intended to be more as an addition to other books on body language.
The book is easy to read and written in simple language. What I like most about it is that you don’t have to read it from cover to cover. You can use it like a manual, and read the parts that interest you currently or want to know more about.
Find The Dictionary of Body Language on Amazon
Body Language: How to Read Others’ Thoughts by Their Gestures – Allan Pease
Learn to spot a dominant person and instantly deflect their dominance over you. Learn to read the gestures that signal someone is attracted to you. Understand eye, arm, and leg signals.
This is an oldie but goodie. It’s written in simple language that reads quickly with lots of illustrations for better understanding. What is great about this book is that is packed with information without the usual fluff that comes with these types of books. It covers not only the meaning of body language but also teaches you how you can send a message with your body language.
Although it’s a bit outdated it still has a lot of value, because honestly how much really did non-verbal communication change in the past 40 years. Our bodies and instincts still work the same way they did almost half a century ago.
The book is available on Amazon, but I also found this free version you can read online.
What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People – Joe Navarro
This book digs deep into the matter. It’s definitely a must-read book on reading people’s body language.
You’ll learn what comfort and discomfort look like, all the “pacifiers” people use to deal with discomfort, and what many other body signals mean. The author also covers the why questions. Why do our bodies send these signals? Why is it that every person on the planet, regardless of the culture they grew up in, sends the same body signals?
With lots of descriptive stories from his rich career as an FBI agent, Joe Navarro teaches how to read body language, what each nonverbal cue means and why does the body do that.
This book is an information treasure trove and honestly a really fun book to read. It completely draws you in.
Find What Every Body Is Saying on Amazon
Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception – Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, and Susan Carnicero
Sometimes the only thing we really want to know is whether someone is lying to us or not. Knowing when someone is being deceitful can save you heartache in personal relationships and give you an upper hand in professional relationships.
Spy the Lie is written by three former CIA agents and it is the book every person should read. This is the book that can completely change your life, you’ll learn what deception looks and sounds like. Through vivid stories from their careers, authors show you how to recognize verbal and nonverbal cues that a person is being deceitful. And you’ll also learn how to ask questions to get the truth out.
The Power of Face Reading: A simple illustrated guide to understanding our universal language – Mac Fulfer
“Your face is a living history of your life, and it may be one of the most intriguing things you’ll ever read.” If you ever wanted to deeply connect and be able to understand people around you then learn how to read their faces. This method of face reading makes reading emotions a trivial game. Your social life will forever be changed once you’ll be able to “read” a personality of a person just by looking at them.
The Power of Face Reading is the second edition of the book Amazing Face Reading: An Illustrated Encyclopedia for Reading Faces. In case you read Amazing Face Reading, you should know that both books have almost identical content with a few added sections in The Power of Face Reading that were not previously published in Amazing Face Reading. This book is the bible of face reading. It is the most comprehensive work available for anyone to learn how to read people’s faces.
The book goes beyond reading emotions or detecting deception. What you’ll learn is to read the personality of a person from their facial features. How valuable it truly is you’ll realize after just a couple of pages.
Find The Power of Face Reading on Amazon
Unmasking the Face – Paul Ekman and Wallace V Friesen
You know the old “eyes are the windows of the soul”, well it’s not just eyes. The whole face shows what a person is feeling in the moment. Even when they try to conceal it, it still comes out. The aim of this book is to show you how emotions, and the various intensities, change and shape the face.
Is it surprise or fear? Is it a real smile, smug, contempt, or hidden anger? Learn to distinguish the intensity of emotions you see. Unmasking the Face is an invaluable resource that you’ll go back to over and over again.
Filled with lots of photographs, you’ll learn to identify emotions on people’s faces.
Find Unmasking the Face on Amazon
If you want to learn more about emotions then I suggest you read one of these Eye-Opening Books About Emotions To Better Understand The Human Experience.
Being able to read people from their behavior and the way they present themselves makes your personal and professional life much easier. It is a skill worth learning.
Knowing what people around you really think and feel gives you an advantage, especially when dealing with difficult people. You’ll be able to adjust your approach which will tremendously improve the quality of all your relationships.
Reading at least one of these books about reading people will change the way you see people and the way you communicate with them.
