Body Language: The Signals You Don't Know You're Sending, and How To Master Them

by Glenn Wilson

From interviews to dates, the boardroom to the stage, being aware of the non-verbal signals you, and others, send can have a huge impact on your relationships and success in life - for better or worse. This fun and friendly guide will show you how to ‘read’ the body language of others, and how to project the right signals, so you can manage the impression you give to others. Full of real-world and pop-cultural examples, practical tips and strategies, and underpinned by principles from psychological and social experiments, you’ll learn how to use and interpret non-verbal messages to put your best face, and body, forwards.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Education, Psychology

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2016

Reviews

[Raluca Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book mostly to check whether the characters I had written in my novel conveyed their feelings suggestively. This book isn't particularly bad, but I felt that it could have been so much better. There is a lot of "research says" and "studies show", but no research or studies are cited, which made me think that the author only chose that particular piece of evidence that agreed with his theory. The case studies were useful - however they only dealt either with interactions between men or interactions between men and women. As such, there was absolutely nothing in this volume about the specific interactions between women (especially in social cases where no men were present). That gave the impression that anything women do, they do in relation to men... which is a rather limited view.

The examples of famous people were also quite old; it would help this book if it got updated with more recent cases. Also, sometimes I got lost in descriptions (such as the descriptions of countless types of smiles) and felt that drawings or pictures would have been a great visual aid to the text.

All in all, I found the book pretty basic and will certainly consult another, better one for my research.

[Constanza Quinteros · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simplistic, to say the least. Badly documented, poorly sustained arguments and full of imprecisions. As a gay woman, I was completely baffled by the never-ending references to what men and women supposedly like, to the point that I felt the author lives in a very secluded place in the midst of the 20th century. Gender-fluidity? I guess it doesn’t exist.
It feels to me that this book was thought exclusively to help extremely insecure and shy heterosexual people, with very poor social skills.
I sort of liked the advice for us hyperstressed people, but, nah, didn’t actually give me any new insight.
Thank goodness it was a bargain, otherwise I would be pissed.

[Tom Kenis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not exactly revelatory in any way.

[Angel Belgodere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cause sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak.
And when you feel weak.
You feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you.
Try to find that inner strength.
And just pull that shit out of you.
And get that motivation to not give up.
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall.
Flat on your face and collapse.

[Ammer Kongtangjitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book for body language introduction.
The author introduced every kind of body language from top to toe, and how they signal to other person as well as how we can notice.

This could be useful for those who never learn about body language before and those who want to improve communication skill. The author also proved the importance of body language in our daily life by many introducing recent researches and case studies.

We can take advantage from this book to improve how we act to other, how to convince and even how to read their response without any verbal communication.

First impression is making almost 90% of people’s judgement, so why don’t we learn how to embrace it ? This book can help you.

[Nicole Tea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to give up on this book early on because I felt the writer had very strong negative biases but by the time I got to the "Black Men need to be careful how they dress so they don't get perceived as criminals" and "women need to be careful not to dress provocatively so they don't lead men on" I was out. This man is disturbed, it's no wonder to discover he's a British author when you read he thinks it's plausible that Hawai'ian people thought a British man was a God than that that British man misinterpreted their body language. Ugh, there are better books on body language. Read them instead. Very racist, sexist, hetero-normative nonsense.

[Freeze · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cookie cutter template book, you might as well just search on yt for the same subject.

[Rohit Rawat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is said that more than half of our communication is done through body language. Therefore, it will be beneficial if we learn about it. And this is what this book intends to do.

The entire book is divided into several parts that deal with different scenarios and how we can identify how people are actually feeling irrespective of what they say.

Similarly the author explains what certain postures and tone of voice indicate and how we can alter them to project something different than what we are feeling.

Overall, the book was okayish. It had some useful advice but much of it was common sense. The author has suggested some experiments that we can do in public if we are bored, which sound fun but we need to be careful while doing them.

The case studies were interesting but we can find most of the information online. I guess something that could have been worked on was the narration. It was very flat and the entire book read like one super long blog post. 

Quite generic!

[Pascal Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

the contents say about the author is on page 3. about the author on page 5 tell us that glenn is a doctor, it doesn't say what sort of doctor or where he got his doctorate. this book is full of studies show and the closest thing it has to a source is more of glenns books in the back accompanied by some dramatic looking cia spy books. glenn also references a lot of comedians and actors (no academics) and describes jonny depp as zany. please dont read this book . try not to acknowledge this book. thank you

[Siobhan Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to start you on a journey of learning about body language, how to read people and what people read in you. However, if you already have some knowledge in the subject then this may not be for you.

During my reading of this book, it was more of a reminder of principles then the introduction of new ideas.

A solid start book

3.5/5

[Arjan Tuli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly the worst book I have ever read. This guy makes an extremely off-putting comment every 2-3 lines. He's found a way to write 200 pages of chat GPT developed content. His tips either contradict themselves, or point out basic human logic. Don't buy this book, its a waste of money and a sore on the eyes.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing I didn't already know in here. Wouldn't even call it a book for beginners. Beginners probably know more from asking questions on Google. No concrete references to studies mentioned or theories proposed.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary of all of his research and findings.

Definitely helpful in helping me read others' body language and to be aware of my own. I'm sure it will help me in different occasions.

[Timon Salomez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It promises a lot but the book is very dated and outdated and sometimes even plain sexist. There is no real line or conclusion and even the layout of the thing is amaturistic. Interesinting subject, poor execution.

[Siti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed description and analysis of body language allowing me to take in good tips into handling corporate conduct

[Ieva Ozola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't even finish. Most of the book is pure "water" and commonly known facts. For example, a smile ir a warm signal..

[JD Morales · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read Daniel Carnegie's book instead of this. That has more details.

[Genine Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Tho, I don't agree with some parts of it. Makes me observe every one around me. 🙃

[Von Cristobal · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's simple and a decent book for body language. It's like an introduction book that will make you be more interested into body language after you read it.

[mira · Rating 1 out of 5]

yeah not amazing, thought it would be more helpful

[Lisa Tangen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. I was most intrigued to learn that we have a dominant side to our faces.

[nalnalaaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gosh… I bought this at BBW Surabaya in 2020. That cover piqued my interest. Well, this book is too anecdotal and generic at best. It also tends to make you judgmental about people's behavior (well, duh—what do you expect from the title?).

Books on behavioral economics, like Thinking, Fast and Slow, or biology-based ones like Behave, provide more reliable insights. When it comes to human behavior—like body language—it’s rooted in many aspects, such as culture (which is constantly changing due to media), genetics, and the brain. Luckily, the author touches on these areas, mentioning Darwin’s theory and stereotypes, but only briefly—not even a full paragraph (though I get it; it's a practical pocket book).

My point is, most people expect to understand humans by understanding body language. That might be true, but only at the very surface level. Still, the book is a fun read. My roommate also found the book cover interesting. He borrowed it and hasn't returned the book lmao i don't mind tho.

[Aleksa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Some advice is pretty good and I can use it. But some things are kinda obvious to the common folk. But in general, it's not that bad, The parts where the author suggests trying out some of the things the topic is about is fun if you are bored. Tho at the same time gotta be careful so that the people don't think you are a creep. XD

[Mohd Nur Alif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlight the basis principles of non-verbal communication.

[Cullen Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I speak two languages, Body and English’ - Mae West

A very quaint little read on the subject of body language. 60-70% of what we communicate is conveyed by our body; Wilson’s book highlights both the overt and subtle nuances of this intriguing human trait.

Although this book’s content is not entirely groundbreaking, it does present some cogent points to make one more like a good politician or actor; more Self-Aware.