 "easy reading and good illustrations" | 2009-11-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A18JW1RQE0YSIJ |
The book is very easy to read, has pictures, and is easy to flip through.
Sure, you may read a few pages and say "duh, I knew that" or "thats just common sense", but there is bound to be many observations in the book that you did not realize go on around you everyday. Due to where I grew up, I would consider myself very street smart. Yet, this book did open my eyes to quite a few tells or cues that I never noticed.
Give it a shot, even if u are not a avid reader.......This book is friendly to those of us who like to flip through pages and find the good stuff. |
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 "love it...put's you on the spot-light!" | 2009-10-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2L5JIJHQJ3B3U |
What Everybody Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People is a book that opens your eyes to the very things about body language you already know. It is easy to read even the not-so avid readers could just take a couple of days or so to complete the entire book. Yet, in the end you feel as though you have achieved and understood the nonverbal behaviour with a better view of the world around you - able to see most of what we take for granted in everyday life.
In the book, Navarro demonstrates several types of body languages in pictorial format and then correlates those postures with real-life FBI past experience making his arguments even more convincing! He conveniently highlights his life experiences as an FBI agent in separate boxes over many pages bringing the tapestry of human experience in all of its delightful complexity. Some of these experiences may seem over the top, but I would like to think they are real.
As much as this book seems popular it is worth noting that it covers complex issues some of which have no scientific evidence due to the fuzzy nature of the topic. At least, Navarro admits to this and I give him credit for his plethora of bibliography! For example, what may be a good gesture to one may not be to another depending on several factors such as culture, religion, ethnicity to mention, but a few. However, what is good about this book when you read it is that you realise that there is nothing new about body language. In fact, most of what is explained is common knowledge and experience that anyone at some point in life might have come across consciously or sub-consciously.
Conveniently, Navarro splits the nonverbal behaviours into two categories on the basis of human-consciousness - those controlled by the neocortex [conscious] and the limbic part of our brain [sub-conscious]. Most of Navarro's illustrations in this book are based on the limbic part of the brain, which in essence has no control of the human brain. I believe this stance is what gives Navarro the flexibility to stretch his arguments as much as he likes, because he knows there are no right or wrong answers in his approach.
So, find out for yourself if this man with a distinguished twenty-five year career with the FBI is what he claims to be - a human lie detector that can spot deceit with relative ease and even teach you to become a personal polygraph in short order. One thing for certain this book will do as it has done to me, is put you on the spot-light and be aware of your surroundings than ever before! |
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| "A high 5 for this book" | 2009-10-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1PXLN3IY3JSKN |
| This is really a good book for understanding body language. The pictures make it easier to learn and remember. It is very well written. |
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| "Exactly what I was looking for" | 2009-10-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2GNYUSKAW3UPV |
This book is exactly what I was looking for:
- it is based on the knowledge and many years of experience of a professional law inforcement interrogator.
I've seen many forensics and other investigative type TV shows as well as documentaries, and I do believe those guys are the best in this field
- it goes into specifics of what triggers our non-verbal behaviors - and that is our limbic brain
As a nice-to-have, it includes pictures of various non-verbal behavior examples throughout the book so you can see them for yourself. Finally, the book is well written and easy to read.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the purchase |
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| "Thumbs Up-What does that tell you?" | 2009-10-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1Y9MPVWQITEGX |
I thought some of the negative reviews were a bit critical of this book. This book lays a solid foundation to reading non verbal actions or "tells". I've read several other books on this subject and thought this was a solid read and I was very happy with my purchase. There is no single book offered that will turn you into an expert over night.
It is important to realize that reading people is a skill. You don't become great at it over night or an expert right after reading the book. Just like any other skill, you have to practice and work at it. You develop the skill of paying attention and picking up on the little things. Once you are able to do that, you then have to determine what all of those things mean. I'm a single male, small business owner and avid poker player. Being able to read people can be very useful in dating, business and at the poker table.
One thing that is very interesting is that some actions or "tells" are very common and seem to always mean the same thing. Other actions or "tells" are unique to each person. What may mean one thing for one person, may actually mean the opposite when done by another person. The "magic" of being able to read people is being able to determine what those actions mean for individual people. Sometimes it's not an action at all but it is what people DON'T say or do that can paint you the entire picture.
In my business, I use my ability to read people to determine whether or not they are being truthful or are uncomfortable with something. If I see them acting in a certain way that makes me believe they are uncomfortable, I go out of my way to explain things to them so that they might be more comfortable with the situation or outcome. In my personal life, I can determine whether or not my friends or family are having a good or bad day and/or might want or need something. This book should be a dating book as well. I can't stand dating. Not many people are very up front and honest about how they feel about another person, especially on a first date. I am not kidding you when I say that there are more non-verbal "tells" on a first date than in any other situation! If you want to know if a woman likes you or not, pay attention to her actions throughout the date. I'm not an expert, but I think I can figure it out in 10 minutes or less! (Good or bad!....ok, mostly bad, lol)
I enjoy playing poker. I play in home games and I play $1/$2 No Limit Hold Em in the casino poker rooms. This book really is a big help with poker tells. It's helped me make some extraordinary calls and folds. Several times I've stunned the entire table and the dealers with my reads. Just a few things off of the top of my head are, people who've made very strong hands will often tilt their heads while betting or thinking of betting, hold their hands together-touching only at the finger tips, bounce one leg like crazy (happy feet), slide their chips into the pot very slowly or gently or give off a genuine smile. People who have hit the flop also tend to look away right away if they notice they've hit their card(s). Normally people who hit the flop do not stare at the flop. People who are on drawing hands tend to call bets very quickly, seeming to give it no thought what-so-ever. People who have a poor hand or are on a bluff often force a smile (there is a difference if you pay attention!), or purse their lips together, have an increased blink rate, forcefully bet chips into the pot or speak very loudly as they announce "RAISE" or "ALL IN". They are trying to scare you or force you out of the pot. After reading this book, my poker reads went through the roof. I think it is because I was paying attention and putting more effort into it. I noticed another player at my home game would sometimes slide his chips into the pot without saying a word when he was all in. He keeps his chips in a big messy pile throughout the game. But sometimes he would actually take the time to count his chips and stack them neatly into the pot when he moved all in. He takes his time counting his chips and then announces the value amount to the table. When he counts them, he is bluffing. He wants his stack to be known in hopes of scaring off the other opponents. I call him with very weak holdings when he does this and I fold when he slides his chips into the pot without counting them or saying a word. He has no idea he is doing this and I'm not about to say a word! This tell is 100%. I actually saw another player do this in the casino and I made an extraordinary call to win the pot.
This book is full of good information to use in many situations. It teaches you the basics (and then some), but it is up to you to figure out how to put theory into practice and actually stay focused. |
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| "The BEST Body Language book" | 2009-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By jonidove |
This has to be the BEST book on body language available. The author gives you the groundwork for understanding the WHYs and HOWs behind gestures and behavior, which teaches the reader how to decipher body language for himself. He stresses the importance of individuality and the complexity of body language, rather than just giving black and white examples and assigning meaning. This book took the confusion out of reading body language for me. I really, really enjoyed it. I refer back to it often.
I highly recommend this book as a companion to Gavin De Becker's "The Gift of Fear", and anyone (especially women) who are interested in learning how to protect themselves from potentially dangerous people. I also highly recommend it for child abuse victims in recovery. This is the stuff we really didn't learn growing up, but need to know to protect ourselves in the future.
Over all GREAT book.
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