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  • What Every BODY Is Saying

  • An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People
  • Written by: Joe Navarro, Marvin Karlins
  • Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
  • Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (208 ratings)

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What Every BODY Is Saying

Written by: Joe Navarro,Marvin Karlins
Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
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Publisher's Summary

He says that's his best offer. Is it?

She says she agrees. Does she?

The interview went great - or did it?

He said he'd never do it again. But he did.

Listen to this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You'll also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you. You will discover:

  • The ancient survival instincts that drive body language
  • Why the face is the least likely place to gauge a person's true feelings
  • What thumbs, feet, and eyelids reveal about moods and motives
  • The most powerful behaviors that reveal our confidence and true sentiments
  • Simple nonverbals that instantly establish trust
  • Simple nonverbals that instantly communicate authority

Filled with examples from Navarro's professional experience, this definitive book offers a powerful new way to navigate your world.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2008 Joe Navarro (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

What listeners say about What Every BODY Is Saying

Average Customer Ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Good

I didn’t get the pdf so it was very confusing to me. I wish I had it to make sense

9 people found this helpful

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Awful narration and no accompanying PDF

I wish I could retain all the important and practical information in this book. The topic is fascinating, but unfortunately I retained very little. This is partly because I couldn’t get over the robotic, toneless, and unappealing narration voice. It almost sounded like it wasn’t a human who narrated it. Thank god it was a short book. I would’ve enjoyed a different narrator. The author also referred many times to a PDF attachment to see examples of body language signs, but NO WHERE on the phone was I given the option to look/download it. Overall this audiobook was a not horrible but not great experience. I’d spend your money on another audiobook about body language if that is what you’re looking for.

7 people found this helpful

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  • BFH
  • 2019-03-05

Reader

The reader sounds like a fake robot and it’s excruciating to listen to. Thinking I may buy a physical copy and read it instead.

5 people found this helpful

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Intriguing insight into the world of body language

#Audible1 This was my first audiobook I purchased using my monthly credit and I must say that it was an enjoyable and informative experience. The book opens yours eyes to the subtleties of body language you subconsciously already know about. Although the audiobook doesn't have illustrations as in the hardcopy, the narrator does a pretty decent job in verbally explaining the illustrations to the point you can visualize it. In the book, Navarro explains the several types of non verbal communication in pictorial format and then relates them to stories with his real life FBI past experiences, making his arguments all the more convincing. He uses his past experiences as an agent not only to bolster his argument but also brighten the tapestry of human experience in all of its delightful complexity(as he says in the book). Despite the fact that this book is well recognized among many circles, it is important to Remeber that some topics discussed are quite complex due to cultural differences in communication and lack proper scientific evidence. Navarro divides the nonverbal communication into two categories - based on the human brain - those controlled by the neocortex (the conscious actions) and the other on the limbic system (the subconscious actions). Most of the book revolves around the limbic part of the brain which acts in an honest way, independent of the conscious mind. After all that I've said, I truly feel that this was a worthy audiobook to listen to and has increased my understanding of nonverbal human behaviour and left me better equipped to understand and react to the social world around me. So, I encourage everyone to listen to this book (after all its backed by Navarro's 25 years worth of FBI experience) . It will definitely help you be more aware of your social surroundings! #Audible1

2 people found this helpful

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no accompanying pdf.

the book doesn't have a pdf . not very clear without the pdf which has the figures

1 person found this helpful

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Amazing book must read

Only annoying/ downside of this book is there is 98 figures in an attached PDF. You can figure out the gestures and body position 70% without them. But I would recommend printing the PDF before starting the book! Still a very helpful book.

1 person found this helpful

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Highly informative!

This is a great audio book, I can highly recommend it to you! :) #audible1

1 person found this helpful

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Amazing!

This book is amazing before I'd even finish reading the book nonverbal cues became 10 times easier to read.
Just watch some reality trash TV and you'll start to pick up when people are being deceptive, it's absolutely amazing.

I was @ a party last night and when my husband told someone what his job was I could see signs of disgust, and contempt from that person for ppl who work blue collar jobs. The person quickly wiped his face clean and changed all his nonverbals to pretend polite interest.

I think I have been picking up more and more on people's subtle body language through the last few years. But what this book helped me to do was to give me the confidence to not doubt myself or the microgestures that people made toward me.

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good

instructive and well detailled but make sure to use rhe information globally, good informations

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great and informative

You'd think a lot of these are simple but when to pick up on them and how to recognize them is really informative. interesting and fun listen.

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  • Cynthia
  • 2013-07-06

Let Me Hear Your Body Talk

One of the first books I listened to on Audible was Joe Mavarro and Marvin Karlins' "What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People" (2012). It was so long ago that I hadn't started writing reviews, but that was fortunate with this book. I've been using some of the techniques described in the book for 18 months, and they work. I wouldn't have known that when I finished the book.

I am a civil trial attorney, and I long relied on gut feeling and intuition when I picked a jury. In other words, just dumb look. This book gave me the ability to know, with some basis, whether a jury liked my client or the opposition, and whether I was effectively advocating my client's defense. Once, in a memory seared sharp, I completely torqued a juror off, which I realized by her flared nostrils and lips pursed together to nonexistence. I was able to dig out of that situation.

This isn't the key to picking a perfect jury, but it helps. It's like knowing a secret code.

I occasionally listen to the book to refresh my techniques. The book teaches how to speed read people, but learning the techniques takes a lot of time, patience, practice and feedback - when you can get it.

I'm giving the book an overall 4 because it is so useful, but it's a 3 on the story. Despite the exciting topic, it's pretty dry and academic. The narration is a three, too. It sounds more like a business seminar than a narration.

I want to mention that "What Every Body is Saying" and Pamela Meyer's "Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception" (2011) really builds on Navarro's techniques. Listen to them consecutively, and it's like a college psychology course.

[If this review helped, please let me know by pressing the helpful button. Thanks!]

769 people found this helpful

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  • Theodore
  • 2013-06-11

Barely Made It Through This One

I found this book very.... long. The sad part about this misconception on my end is that I regularly listen to books that are 20+ hours long. I have even gone through War & Peace as well as Anna Karenina and those did not feel as long as this book. The narration was dry at best and I found myself just getting through this book through mostly sheer will power than due to any sort of interest.

If you are a naturally observant person, one of those people particular key on detail then you will find this book more or less telling you what you know already. A lot of what is said in this book regarding reading people tends to be very subjective and the author admits this at multiple parts in the book. I won't lie and say there was nothing good or nothing learned here because there was actually some noteworthy portions and it served to confirm some of my already preconceived notions; on a whole I saw it as just a sea of useless fodder with just a small handful of note-worthy moments.

The narration was painful to listen to.... I found it so difficult to get through this book and the narration did not help. Maybe it was the content that was just lackluster and the narrator couldn't do much to improve it.

As I said, this book just seemed way too long for a title that is just 7 hours long... I normally go through 7 hour worth listening in a day.... Yet I think I went over a week before I could finish this one....

266 people found this helpful

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  • None of your damn business
  • 2012-03-23

Interesting, SLOW narration and very dry

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator. He was so generic and flat it was difficult to maintain interest. I ended up listening at 2x speed. The topic was sometimes dry and a little hard to follow - but at least the author attempted to make a few asides or crack a joke or two, but none of that came across in the performance.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

No much of a reliance on the PDF file to describe or demonstrate the content. Maybe this wasn't the right kind of book for an audiobook.

What didn’t you like about Paul Costanzo’s performance?

It was flat, monotone and lacking in any sort of real inflection. It made it difficult to maintain my interest in the book. He could have just as easily been discussing the merits of diesel engines. I've heard more interesting performances on commercials for mutual funds.

Could you see What Every BODY Is Saying being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Maybe a corporate training video starring an insurance salesman.

Any additional comments?

Good book for the content, but prepare for a slog through the narration.

112 people found this helpful

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  • Gladis
  • 2012-03-06

Wow, listen to this book!

I'm not even quite sure how I picked this book to spend my credit on but I'm so glad it turned out to be an awesome find! It gives you the medical reasons why our body language can say more than the words that we say -plus examples that happened through out his career while he was an FBI agent . While listening to this book I became a people watcher and have observed some of the examples he talks about in the book so now I can't help feeling like this book has given me tools to decode what people are saying without saying it. Delivers its promise! Great use of credit.

111 people found this helpful

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  • Jackie
  • 2012-05-28

I should have listen to the other reviewers

What would have made What Every BODY Is Saying better?

The material was dry and repetitive. Nothing earth shattering or insightful and the performance was perfunctory at best. The content could have been covered in a 30 page report that would have been more memorable had the reader been dynamic.

Has What Every BODY Is Saying turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

What didn’t you like about Paul Costanzo’s performance?

Little inflection or intonation - like being read to by a robot

108 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Dominik Runopotamus
  • 2013-02-03

Hard to be excited

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'd not recommend this book cause it's like recommending half cake recipe to best friend...

What was most disappointing about Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins ’s story?

Through whole book I had a feeling that some ingredients in this recipe are missing. In my mind if you want to share something with others do it right and honestly or don't bother at all.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator really sucks... He's more boring than all my worst teachers combined.

Could you see What Every BODY Is Saying being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, no, no...!!! No movie here!

60 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • loix
  • 2012-04-09

The book could have been so much better

1. If it had had another narrator (as pointed out by most of the earlier reviews). This narrator seems to be constantly out of breath and pauses whenever he can (within a single breath group in a few cases). It's a miracle that despite the narrator I still could see that the author has done his best to lay out his expertise in a way that would make sense to the least attentive reader.

2. If the editor had cut out most of the redundant passages and "foreshadowing". The introduction seemed so long, I kept wondering if the book would ever get to the point instead of promising to do this and that. There were also quite a few examples that were repeated (along with the accompanying pictures).

3. If the author had gone into the details of the case of the "liar that got away" near the end of the book. The author confesses that even he didn't see it coming (which was refreshing), and since he goes to such great lengths to underscore how difficult lie detection is, it would have been helpful if he had provided his "hindsight" about the case of that liar extraordinaire.

4. If the publisher had hired professional actors to demonstrate the different "tells". Despite his expertise in spotting and analyzing tells, the author (also the man in the pictures) leaves much to be desired as a mime, and the woman in the pictures was even less convincing.

52 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2013-01-21

Don't buy this.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More information told in a more interesting way.

What was most disappointing about Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins ’s story?

Basic information that could have been gleaned from a magazine article. No true insghts.

Any additional comments?

Skip this one.

44 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Walter
  • 2015-07-21

good subject matter, terrible narrator

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The content was great, but the narrator was speaking in a "now you are listening to me read" cadence and it drove me nuts.

43 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Dazy
  • 2012-05-15

Not good for the Audio, but for the hard copy

What disappointed you about What Every BODY Is Saying?

there are many things related with PDF which is not included in audibook

If you’ve listened to books by Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins before, how does this one compare?

NA

How did the narrator detract from the book?

great

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

very interesting story

Any additional comments?

wish to have those PDF mentioned in the book to visualize the readings

40 people found this helpful

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  • Anis
  • 2020-06-22

So superficial

Informations in the book aren’t deep enough to undersrand perfectly thé source of each reaction