Body Language 101: The Ultimate Guide to Knowing When People Are Lying, How They Are Feeling, What They Are Thinking, and More

by David Lambert

This amazing, revealing handbook contains all anyone will ever need to know about reading body language. With it, you can become a veritable human lie detector, spotting exactly when people are telling the truth, when they are lying, and even how they are feeling. What can you tell by folded arms, by the distance away someone stands when talking to you, from facial expressions, or from blinking eyes? The answer? Almost everything! With hundreds of examples illustrated in full color, Body Language 101 can help anyone from any culture know more about his or her friends, spouse, colleagues, lovers, competitors, and enemies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Reference, Self Help, Amazon, Communication

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: David Lambert


David Lambert is an editor with the prize-winning Diagram Group, which specializes in the creation of illustrated reference books of all kinds. For more than 50 years he has written about everything from dinosaurs and ancient civilizations to dogs and outer space. His name might not always be on the cover, but it is usually inside the book.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Body Language 1010101010101010101. For non-alive entities on their first day of aliveness. In case you didn't know that punching the air when making a point is an aggressive gesture (with attached picture to show you what it looks like) etc.

[Chavala Trigg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reminds me of a child's picture-book: many pictures and too few words. The photos are great, but there just isn't enough meat in this book. I read it cover to cover in about 45 minutes. Additionally, most of it is common knowledge, unless you are socially inept. Further, I found the inclusion of the cultural or regional references (foreign equivalents) to be sparse, scattered and really too random to be novel or of any interest. This could function as entertainment in a doctor's office waiting room or as a coffee table book. If you are interested in this subject there are far superior books out there, this book actually references a few other authors. I recommend titles by Paul Ekman, Joe Navarro and Allan Pease. If you must see for yourself, just get it from your library.

[Vincent Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no end to learning about human behaviour, and this book will give you just that. It contains all anyone will ever need to know about reading body language. With it, you can become a veritable human lie detector, spotting exactly when people are telling the truth, when they are lying, and even how they are feeling. What can you tell by folded arms, by the distance away someone stands when talking to you, from facial expressions, or from blinking eyes? The answer? Almost everything! With hundreds of examples illustrated in full color, Body Language 101 can help anyone from any culture know more about his or her friends, spouse, colleagues, lovers, competitors, and enemies.

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book attempts to be a basic introduction to understanding body language. It starts strong with a brief history of the study of kinesics and proxemics. At times it explains the obvious. Examples include explaining smiling and frowning. At others it makes very strange observations: especially when dealing with courtship body language. I’m guessing these stranger observations where based on Freudian presuppositions. It ends abruptly with a chapter on evolution which talks about opossum, cats, and monkeys. The better parts include explaining of non verbal communication from various cultures. Overall this book isn’t worth your time.

[Maxim Bandersnatch · Rating 1 out of 5]

The information seems to be a a hodgepodge of outdated and stereotypical behaviors and gestures; some of them more like sign language (asl) than involuntary/subconscious action. Some examples are, twirling your finger on the side of your head to indicate insanity/a crazy person, nodding and/or shaking of the head for positive and/or negative feedback, respectively. It touches on cultural differences that are again, very stereotypical, and in most cases not relevant in present day business to business culture - here or on foreign soil; Eskimo kisses (rubbing noses in greeting,) seriously?

Even if it were relevant information is entirely deficient and haphazard.

Has clear, bold pictures - that's about the only positive feature.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and there are loads of pictures in it too.Id recommend it to anyone so I don't know why it's got bad reviews.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

* proxemics

* Close intimate zone (0-6 in)" = 0 - .15 m

* Intimate zone (6 in-1 ft 6 in)" = .15 - .45 m

* Personal zone (1 ft 6 in-4 ft)" = .45 - 1.2 m

* Social zone (4-12 ft)" = 1.2 - 3.6 m

* Public zone (12 ft+)" = 3.6 m +

* leaning back

* in part of "Losing interest", however seems like in the scenario they consider the person to be sitting

* cultural differences

* The majority of the body language described in Collins Gem Body Language is from the Western and Islamic worlds. Research on body language from other parts of the world is less readily available. Even so, a number of African, Asian and Latin American examples have been included."

* When two North Americans or West Europeans talk one could touch the other with the fingertips of an outstretched arm.

* When two Russians talk one could touch the other with the wrist of an outstretched arm.

* When two Latin Americans, Italians or Arabs talk one could touch the other with an elbow.

* People from English-speaking countries, Japan and northern Europe tend to avoid casual touching.

* People from China, France, India and Ireland generally accept some casual touching.

* People from Latin America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Russia and parts of Asia tend to freely practise casual touching."

* A European businessman visiting an Arab country might be alarmed if a new and friendly Arab business acquaintance chooses to take his hand as they walk down a road."

* A Latin American might greet a foreign business colleague with a hug, to that person"™s confusion if he or she comes from North America."

* A Korean businessperson, schooled to avoid touching or eye contact, would probably feel uncomfortable if his or her Western counterpart were to shake the Korean firmly by the hand and look him or her straight in the eye"


[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was alright if you really want to learn the absolute basics of body language. Lots of pictures and sometimes the origin of tge gesture included. I'm no expert and I don't know what there is else to body languagd, but perhaps if you want to learn advanced body language/know a lot about body languagr you should maybe consider another book. Still, this book is great for real beginner.

[Randy Tramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book. Not only does the student learn the body languages of American, but also of different countries. I found this book very interesting. Taking a lot of notes, I'll use this material a lot.

[Tony Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting to get a multicultural perspective. however, many of the negative signals (and weirdly, the courting ones) are all things I and many people do because of mental illness. it would benefit from more explanation and understanding of that.

[Gilbert G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was somewhat interesting, however it far short of what I was hoping. I have several other books I will be reading which I hope will be more comprehensive.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, you would have to be really stupid not to pick up on the obvious body language signs he writes of.

[TRESA A. REED · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun pictures to show you what people are communicating with their body language.

[HappyGSDmama · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty dry... could’ve been summarized in a more efficient and organized manner.

[LEVI NORTHWAY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent, simple intro to body language. Not for the super avid but definitely worth perusing

[Cynthia H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic

[Meredith Marlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cant wait for us to wear cameras 24/7 and just let AI tell us what someone is thinking feeling. Will save our neurons for better things.

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This in nice information to have and quite interesting; also quick reading since there are a lot of illustrations. I read it while waiting for some photos to come out of the self-service printer at FedEx. I have to wonder if perhaps the author includes too many minor details attaching meaning to certain minuscule gestures, although to his credit he did point out that sometimes a person will scratch his lip or rub his eye because it is itchy, and not because he is lying. It might be fun to closely observe someone with whom you are having a conversation to determine from body language alone whether they like or dislike you. Although for me there are probably just as many times that I wouldn't care to know. What is even more intriguing to most is finding out if the attractive stranger you just met would like to be more intimate. If only I had had this book 50 years ago!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fast read. This book comes with photographs of people and their body language. It first starts out with the universal body language like anger, happiness, etc. then it goes into physical space, and how people from different countries think of space.

It made me realize that a lot of the body language signals that I put out is unconscious. I would have liked to have read something more in depth on how our body language is genetic. (This also makes me think of my son who has no restrictions to how he moves and what he does, which is really refreshing.)

[Isabelydancer00 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an easy and fast read. I read it in less than 2 hours.
As the title suggests - Body Language 101 is a basic guide. Lettering is in a good sized print; well layed out with descriptions, accompanying illustrations and coloured pictures.
I would recommmend this book for those with next to no knowledge of body language that would like to learn the basics or those like mme that were interested in a quick entertaining read.
isabelydancer00

[Leeza Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. I got it in hopes of being able to use some of the information to write better character actions and behaviors. I found a lot of useful information that I will be able to incorporate in my writing. There were a couple of formatting issues but nothing too major. Also, I am NOT an evolutionist, therefore, I did not like how the book concluded by equating our body language to the evolution theory. Had it not been for that I would have given it 5 stars.

[Christine Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking more for nuances in nonverbal communication. This seems better suited for international travelers who would like to know country specific body language. Pretty basic stuff though; however, it is a 101 book... so I guess I should have known that. Extremely easy/ quick read, so probably worth the hour invested.

[Tiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh.. David Lambert's book. I reviewed a few other books here but I like this one because it's very well illustrated. Pictures are definetly important when learning body language.

Recommend it. Four stars.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by a co-worker. Do you want to know what people are really thinking when they are talking to you (or to someone else)? What message are you sending to other people in the way you stand, sit, or shake hands? This book was such fun! I was fascinated by the TV series 'Lie to Me', and this book explains much of what was covered on the series (though a bit less rigorously).

[Allanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little compendium of pictures and descriptions of non-verbal body cues.
There are some descriptions of these cues' meanings in other cultures ... and even some animal body-language study (it's a short section at the end, but still!)

Nice little resource. I liked it!

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simple book. Not very enlightening. I was looking for something a little more culturally American. Most of the body language described was obvious body language. I would like to have read more about the non-obvious body language.

[Nicholas Maulucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept waiting for this book to get better or get interesting. no can do. remained boring throughout and then culminated with a chapter about how we have evolved into the communicative primates that we are. lame.don't waste your time.

[Starr Wirt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intro book

I would consider this book a good introduction to the study of body language. It touches on cultural differences and gives the very basic concepts of emotions displayed in one's body language.

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing book. It is like a concise version of "The Definitive Book of Body Language", can be read in a couple of hours, and hence, it has little depth of knowledge. Except for its numerous color photographs and illustrations, this book has nothing going for it.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short on data, long on assertions. The cross-cultural comparisons of different gestures are neat, though.