Former FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language | Tradecraft | WIRED

Summary

Joe Navarro, a former FBI agent with 25 years of experience, shares insights on nonverbal communication, often referred to as body language. He dispels common myths, such as crossed arms indicating deception, and emphasizes the importance of observing behaviors like facial expressions, posture, and gestures to understand a person's true feelings. Navarro's expertise in reading nonverbals was crucial in his career, from catching spies to assessing suspects' reactions in high-stakes situations like poker games, where body language can reveal more than facial expressions.

Takeaways

• 😌 Nonverbals are any form of communication that does not involve words, including body language, dress, and how one walks.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Joe Navarro, a former FBI special agent, used nonverbal cues to catch spies and understand their intentions.
• 👀 Security measures often rely on observing nonverbal cues, such as how people look through peepholes or who they look at while using an ATM.
• 💑 People often select their mates based on non-verbal cues, indicating the importance of these signals in interpersonal relationships.
• 🙅‍♂️ Common myths about nonverbal cues, such as crossed arms indicating a defensive stance, are often misunderstood and not necessarily accurate.
• 🤔 The way people look or process information can be misinterpreted as deception, but it is not a reliable indicator of lying.
• 🤥 The belief in a 'Pinocchio effect' where physical behaviors like nose touching or mouth covering indicate lying is scientifically unfounded.
• 👮‍♂️ Law enforcement, including espionage work, relies heavily on observing nonverbal behaviors to gather intelligence and assess suspects.
• 🌟 Observing minute details in behavior, such as how someone holds flowers, can reveal cultural backgrounds and potentially uncover deception.
• 👥 In law enforcement, building rapport and observing behavioral changes during conversations can lead to suspects revealing crucial information.
• 👀 The importance of observing nonverbal cues extends to everyday interactions, such as noticing changes in posture or facial expressions to understand someone's state of mind.
• 👥 Handshaking is a significant nonverbal interaction in many cultures, serving as an initial bonding moment and a way to gauge initial impressions.
• 🎲 In poker, observing players' nonverbal cues can provide insights into their psychological state and potential strategies, beyond just their cards.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Joe Navarro's career with the FBI?

Joe Navarro's main focus during his 25-year career with the FBI was catching spies, particularly within the national security division, where he worked on understanding and neutralizing specific targets.

What does the term 'nonverbals' refer to in the context of the script?

In the script, 'nonverbals' refers to any form of communication that is not verbal, such as body language, how one dresses, and how one walks, which can reveal a person's thoughts and feelings.

Why is it a misconception to believe that crossing one's arms is a sign of blocking behavior?

Crossing one's arms is often misunderstood as a blocking behavior, but according to the script, it is actually a form of self-soothing, akin to a self-hug, rather than an attempt to block out someone or something.

What does the script suggest about the effectiveness of humans in detecting deception?

The script suggests that humans are generally poor at detecting deception and that common indicators such as throat clearing, nose touching, or mouth covering are not scientifically or empirically linked to lying.

How did Joe Navarro use nonverbal cues to identify a potential spy in one of his cases?

Joe Navarro identified a potential spy by observing how the individual held flowers, which was a nonverbal cue indicating the person's Eastern European origin, as opposed to the typical American way of holding flowers by the stock.

What is the significance of the first touch in most western cultures, as mentioned in the script?

The first touch in most western cultures, such as a handshake, is significant because it is the first time our bodies release bonding chemicals that influence our perception of liking or disliking another person.

How does Joe Navarro describe the importance of observing nonverbal cues in poker?

Joe Navarro describes the importance of observing nonverbal cues in poker as a way to gather 'poker intelligence' by looking for behaviors indicative of psychological discomfort or reactions to a stimulus, which can provide insights into a player's state of mind.

What is the purpose of observing nonverbal cues at the beginning of a poker game?

Observing nonverbal cues at the beginning of a poker game allows players to collect information about each other's psychological state and potential discomfort, which can be useful throughout the game.

How does Joe Navarro explain the concept of 'self-soothing' in relation to nonverbal cues?

Joe Navarro explains 'self-soothing' as a nonverbal behavior where individuals engage in certain actions, such as shuffling chips in poker, to help manage their emotions and make it through a situation.

What does the script suggest about the effectiveness of observing nonverbal cues at double speed?

The script suggests that observing nonverbal cues at double speed can be useful because critical nonverbal behaviors become more apparent and stand out, making it easier to identify and interpret them.

Why is it important to look around rather than just at cards or community cards in poker, according to the script?

It is important to look around in poker to observe the reactions of other players to the cards, as these reactions can provide valuable nonverbal cues that may reveal their strategies or feelings about their hands.

Outlines

00:00

🕵️‍♂️ The Art of Nonverbal Communication

Joe Navarro, a former FBI special agent, discusses the importance of nonverbal cues in communication. He clarifies misconceptions about body language, such as crossed arms being a sign of defensiveness, and explains that these behaviors are often self-soothing rather than indicative of deception. Navarro emphasizes the role of nonverbals in security, mate selection, and the interpretation of others' thoughts. He shares a story of using nonverbal cues to identify a spy, highlighting the effectiveness of observing behaviors like how someone holds flowers. His experience in the FBI taught him that lengthy conversations and behavioral observation are more effective in gathering information than seeking immediate confessions.

05:01

🧐 Observing and Interpreting Nonverbal Cues

This section delves into the specifics of nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and gestures. It covers how to read stress in the forehead, discomfort in the eyes and glabella, and the significance of lip compression and cheek movements. Navarro also discusses the importance of observing the neck, shoulders, hands, and feet for signs of discomfort or deception. He explains that these cues are not about making judgments but about assessing what the person is transmitting at that moment. The summary also touches on the nuances of personal space and comfort, as well as the dynamics of touch, particularly in the context of handshakes and their role in bonding and communication.

10:02

🃏 Poker and Nonverbal Tells

In this segment, Navarro draws parallels between his experience as an FBI agent and the world of poker, focusing on the nonverbal tells that can reveal a player's psychological state. He describes observing players' reactions to being called to a table, noting behaviors such as shifting in chairs, shoulder grabbing, and high shoulder positions as signs of discomfort. Navarro advises paying attention to hand placements, chip shuffling, and body language to gather 'poker intelligence.' He also emphasizes the importance of observing reactions to the game's developments, as these nonverbal cues can provide critical information about a player's engagement and interest. The summary concludes with a reflection on the significance of nonverbal communication in all aspects of life, not just in poker or law enforcement.

Keywords

💡Nonverbals

Nonverbals refer to any form of communication that does not involve words. In the video, Joe Navarro explains that nonverbals include body language, how we dress, and how we walk. These nonverbal cues are crucial in interpreting the thoughts and feelings of a person. For example, Navarro mentions how people use nonverbals to assess security, such as looking through a peephole or observing someone at an ATM machine.

💡Body Language

Body language is a subset of nonverbals that involves the movement and positioning of the body to communicate. In the script, Navarro discusses how body language can reveal a person's intentions or feelings. He uses the example of how people may cross their arms not to block others but as a self-soothing behavior, which is often misunderstood.

💡Deception

Deception in the context of the video refers to the act of misleading others by hiding the truth or creating a false impression. Navarro clarifies that common myths about detecting deception, such as crossing arms or touching the nose, are not scientifically supported. He emphasizes that humans are generally poor at detecting deception and that these behaviors are often misinterpreted.

💡Pacifying Behaviors

Pacifying behaviors are actions that individuals engage in to soothe themselves, often unconsciously. Navarro mentions behaviors like clearing the throat or touching the nose, which are commonly but incorrectly associated with lying. He explains that these are self-soothing actions rather than indicators of deception.

💡Facial Expressions

Facial expressions are a significant part of nonverbal communication that can reveal a person's emotional state. Navarro discusses how the eyes, forehead, and mouth can indicate stress or discomfort. For instance, he notes that people may compress their lips when they are bothered or tense their facial muscles to convey displeasure.

💡Head Tilt

Head tilt is a nonverbal cue that can indicate relaxation or openness. Navarro explains that when a person tilts their head, it often signifies that they are more relaxed. Conversely, the absence of a head tilt might suggest that there is an issue or discomfort, as seen in the poker players' behavior during the game.

💡Poker

Poker is a card game that involves strategic play and reading opponents' nonverbal cues. Navarro draws parallels between poker and espionage, noting that both require keen observation of nonverbal behaviors to gain an advantage. He uses the example of poker players' reactions to their cards to illustrate how nonverbals can reveal psychological discomfort.

💡Personal Space

Personal space refers to the physical distance individuals maintain between themselves and others, which can communicate comfort or discomfort. Navarro discusses how people adjust their personal space in social interactions, such as moving further apart when discussing the importance of comfort, indicating a change in their level of comfort.

💡Stimuli

Stimuli in the context of the video are external factors that elicit a response or reaction. Navarro uses the term to describe how individuals react to certain situations or questions, which can be observed through their nonverbal cues. For example, he mentions how people's hands might stiffen or move in response to a troubling question.

💡Espionage

Espionage involves the practice of spying or using spies to gather secret or confidential information. Navarro, having been an FBI agent, discusses how nonverbal cues were crucial in his work to identify and neutralize threats. He shares a story of how observing a mole's nonverbal behavior with flowers led to a successful interrogation.

💡Perception Management

Perception management is the act of controlling or influencing how others perceive oneself. Navarro mentions this concept when discussing how people might adjust their nonverbal behaviors, such as rubbing their cheeks or hiding their hands, to manage how they are perceived by others. This is particularly relevant in the context of deception and the need to appear non-threatening.

Highlights

Nonverbals are anything that communicates without using words, including body language, dress, and how we walk.

Joe Navarro spent 25 years as an FBI special agent, specializing in catching spies and understanding nonverbal cues.

Security often relies on nonverbal cues, like looking through a peephole or being aware of surroundings at an ATM.

Most people select mates based on nonverbal signals, revealing more about our preferences than we realize.

Common myths about nonverbal cues, like crossed arms indicating blocking behavior, are debunked as misunderstandings.

Behaviors like looking a certain way or touching the nose are not definitive indicators of deception.

Humans are generally poor at detecting deception, contrary to popular belief and media portrayals.

A real-life case example illustrates how observing nonverbal cues, like flower holding, can reveal cultural differences and lead to uncovering a spy.

The importance of face time and lengthy conversations in law enforcement for gathering information.

Assessing nonverbal cues involves observing behaviors in response to stimuli rather than making judgments.

Key areas to observe in nonverbal communication include hair, eyes, forehead, and facial expressions which can indicate stress or discomfort.

The significance of head tilt, shoulder movement, and hand gestures in conveying a person's state of relaxation or discomfort.

Ventilating behaviors, such as neck touching, can indicate the instant something bothers an individual.

Leg and foot movements, like brushing legs or wiggling feet, can signal discomfort or a need for self-soothing.

The importance of observing minute differences in behavior, such as posture and pace, to understand what a person is transmitting.

Handshaking is a critical nonverbal interaction that can establish comfort levels and release bonding chemicals.

The concept of 'poker body' suggests that while people may try to hide their emotions on their face, their body language often reveals their true feelings.

Observing nonverbal cues in poker can provide insights into a player's psychological state and potential strategies.

The value of nonverbal communication in understanding and interpreting human behavior beyond what is said verbally.

Transcripts

nonverbals are

anything that communicates but is not a

word the public knows them as body

language how we dress

how we walk

have meaning and we use that to

interpret what's in the mind of the

person

[Music]

my name is joe navarro and for 25 years

i was a special agent with the fbi my

job was to catch spies

most of my career i spent within the

national security division a lot of it

had to do with looking at specific

targets and then it was about well how

do we get in their heads and how do we

neutralize them

our security is based on nonverbals we

look at the person through the peephole

we look at who's behind us at the atm

machine we know from the research that

most of us select our mates based on

non-verbal so we may think we're very

sophisticated

but in fact we are never

in a state where we're not transmitting

information

there's a lot of myths out there

the ones that stand out is if you cross

your arms

that it's a blocking behavior that's

just nonsense even when you don't like

the person that is in front of you this

isn't to block them out it's actually to

self-suit because in essence it's a

self-hug when you're sitting at a movie

and you're watching you're gonna cross

your arms you're waiting for somebody

you tend to do this what's interesting

is we do this behavior more in public

than in private the other one that

really stands out is as we think about

something we may look in a certain way

as we process the information we may

look in another way it's certainly not

indicative of of deception and it really

shouldn't be used that way all we can

say is the person is processing the

information the other misconceptions are

that if the person clears their throat

touches their nose or covers their mouth

they're lying we do these behaviors as

self-soothers their their pacifying

behaviors scientifically

and empirically there's just no

pinocchio effect and people who prattle

that and say well we can detect

deception because the person touches

their nose or covers their mouth that's

just sheer nonsense we humans are lousy

at detecting deception

espionage work is often nowhere near

what we see in movies and in one of the

cases we had information from another

country saying you have an american we

think is actually a mole who somehow

entered the united states is able to

pass as an american but he's here

working for a hostile intelligence

service and just

fortuitously he was videographed coming

out of a flower shop we're looking at

the video and everybody in the in our

small unit we were saying well there's

not much there you know he's coming out

of the shop getting in his car and i

said stop the film right there

just as he came out of the shop he took

the flowers and most americans tend to

hold the flowers by the stock so the

flowers are up this individual took them

and grabbed the stock and then held the

flowers so that they were facing down

and i said that's how they carry flowers

in eastern europe rather than confront

him about are you a spy

i decided to do what's called a

presumptive so as i sat there with him i

said would you like to know how we know

and he had this look on his face and and

i said it was the flowers

and then he confessed

when i came into law enforcement i

thought it was all about the confession

it's really about face time

in my 25 years in the fbi

it was a rarity

that a person didn't eventually

reveal

what i needed to know

because we would sit down and have these

very lengthy

conversations

i look at behaviors to do an assessment

what is this person transmitting in

relations to any stimuli my further

questioning comes from my observing

these behaviors

the first thing i look at is i look at

the hair

does it look healthy does it look well

groomed the forehead is very interesting

because a lot of times we reveal stress

a lot of the things that we have gone

through life are often etched in the

forehead i look at the eyes to see if

they're red or not enough sleep the

small area here between the eyes called

the glabella it's one of the first areas

that reveals information to us most

often when we don't like something we do

that bunny nose of i don't like we don't

really know what our lips look like and

we tend to compress them when something

bothers us when something really bothers

us we tend to suck them in

the mandibular and look at the cheeks we

may do something like this we'll

we'll rub our tongue against

the inside of the cheek but when we try

to hide it then it tells me that this

person is trying to do some perception

management and if they are i want to

know why

at the neck i want to see if there's any

head tilt because head tilt the person

is more relaxed the minute the head tilt

goes away there's usually some issue i'm

looking at the shoulders

you ask somebody a question they don't

know both shoulders shoot up very

quickly and then i look at the hands

when something's troubling us we tend to

stiffen our fingers interlace them and

almost like a teepee

we move our hands back and forth very

slowly this is to be differentiated from

when we do the steeple which we do in

this position when something's at issue

we tend to put our hands on our hips and

we become very territorial this is

called arms of kimbo but look how it

changes when we put our thumbs forward

and then it becomes one of more of i'm

inquisitive but i also look for any

behaviors of ventilating because men

tend to ventilate at the neck and we do

at the very instant something bothers us

and then i look at the legs to see if

there's any brushing of the legs with

the hands

which is again to pacify and then the

feet

do i see any behavior such as wiggling

of the feet kicking of the feet if i ask

a question and all of a sudden the feet

withdraw and are crossed perhaps the

person feels a little threatened by that

question so when we study nonverbals

it's not about making judgments it's

about assessing what is this person

transmitting in that moment

it really is looking at an individual

and saying what are they transmitting

we're all transmitting at all times

we choose the clothes that we wear how

we groom ourselves how we dress but also

how do we carry ourselves are we coming

to the office on this particular day

with a lot of energy or are we coming in

with a different sort of pace and what

we look for are differences in behavior

down to the the minutia of

what is this individual's posture as

they're walking down the street are they

on the inside of the sidewalk on the

outside can we see his blink rate can we

see how often he's looking at his watch

i know your blink rate is around eight

eight times a minute but you don't know

that you're not sitting there

counting all these things factor in

because they're transmitting information

now it's up to us to then

use that information to say okay we need

to marshal resources to be on that

individual right now

so in most western cultures the first

time people touch

is when they shake hands

touching becomes

that important because we can always

remember a time when we shook hands with

someone and we didn't like that

it's also the first time when our bodies

release these bonding chemicals that say

i like this person or i don't like this

person so handshaking is both necessary

and essential in most cultures

pigeons are supposed to be like dirty

birds

ladies hi i'm joe navarro i'm laura

laura how are you and you are

cathedra how are you okay let me ask you

this

let's back up a little bit

is this comfortable for you yes yeah

it's a little bit more comfortable

but it's not for you is it

all right thank you all right so keep

talking

what we've done here is we've talked

about the importance of space and

comfort

they don't realize is how much further

apart they are now standing and it's

because we have brought this subject up

to make them comfortable about

saying hey it's okay to be comfortable

at your perfect distance

and so now we see when they rock they

rock away from each other and they

create

this space if you notice their feet

tend to move around more

there's

a dynamic going on here

where they're kind of trying to find

what what is the perfect space what is

the perfect distance and we know that

they're unsettled because of the high

degree of movement that's

that's going on

poker is an interesting game the

similitudes of sitting across from a spy

or sitting across from players it's

their reactions to a stimulus we have

behaviors indicative of psychological

discomfort that we use at home at work

or at the poker table

so we're going to take a look at poker

players and some of the body language

that you'll find at a typical poker game

so we'll pause it right there

so one of the things that you first

notice is that when a table is called

this is the first time many of them see

each other this is a great opportunity

to be looking for behaviors indicative

of discomfort we're going to see the

individual shifting in his chair we're

going to see one individual reaching

over and grabbing his shoulder the woman

in this case her shoulders are rather

high this is a great opportunity even

before the game starts to collect

poker intelligence all right guys button

is good clinton is good so we'll stop

right there

look where their hands are at

here we're looking at player number two

and number three and we notice right

away that their hands are on top of the

cards some players will cage their cards

some players will put their hands

directly on top and press them down and

they may do that because the cards have

now increased in value player number one

tends to keep his hands very close to

his body player number four she's

actually withdrawn her hands from the

table because when we like things we

tend to move our hands forward when we

don't like things we tend to move the

hands away

so as we look at player number three i'm

often asked about players who shuffle

their chips

what you're really doing is

self-soothing and this just helps you to

make it through the game and that's

really all we're looking for

oh come on

okay so we'll stop right there

player number five is sitting there arms

crossed you don't see a lot of activity

that doesn't mean he's not transmitting

a lot of information on down the line i

want to see where those thumbs of his

are

because he holds them very close when

nothing's going on but does that change

as the game evolves

if you're looking at nonverbals it's

often useful to look at them at double

the speed because all the nonverbals

that are critical jump out at you as

though it were a caricature

all right so stop right there

the woman in position number four you

see her head moving around quite a bit

player number three you see a lot of

activity with his hands when we look at

player number five now his hands are

fully out this is as far as we've seen

them before

at this point we know that he's engaged

and that he's interested

now the game is out in the open

75 to 80 of the information we need is

sitting out there what you often see is

everybody's looking at their own cards

or looking at the community cards rather

than looking around you should be

looking around to see what was the

reaction because you're going to see

that reaction again

you know in poker we used to say that

you can have a poker face but i

encountered you can't have a poker body

somewhere it's going to be revealed

when i was in college in the early 70s

there were really

no courses on

nonverbal communications you quickly

realized that to a great extent it's

really about what you can interpret from

behavior and so we talk about

non-verbals because it matters because

it has gravitas because it affects how

we communicate with each other when it

comes to nonverbals this is no small

matter

we

primarily communicate

nonverbally and we always will