Something You Should Know
What Body Language Really Reveals & How to Get More Things Done
08 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What unique insights about Chinese takeout packaging are revealed?
Today on Something You Should Know, there's something fascinating about Chinese takeout that has nothing to do with the food. Then, the fascinating science of body language.
You might enter into a party and see someone you don't like. Your feet will immediately orient in a different direction. Now, maybe from head up, you'll say hi, but your feet will orient you away from that person.
Also, how listening to birds sing can do wonders for your well-being and strategic help for people who never seem to have enough time to get things done.
think the first step, and people never want to hear this, is to actually try keeping track of your time for a week. A week tends to be the cycle of life as we actually live it. And knowing where your time goes will allow you to make rational decisions about it.
All this today on Something You Should Know.
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Chapter 2: How does body language influence our perceptions of others?
Hey, it's Hillary Frank from The Longest Shortest Time, an award-winning podcast about parenthood and reproductive health. We talk about things like sex ed, birth control, pregnancy, bodily autonomy, and, of course, kids of all ages. But you don't have to be a parent to listen.
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Something you should know. Fascinating intel. The world's top experts. And practical advice you can use in your life. Today, Something You Should Know with Mike Carruthers.
Chapter 3: What are common misconceptions about body language?
You know, there is something fascinating about Chinese takeout that doesn't have anything to do with the food, and it isn't Chinese. And that's what we're going to start with today. Hi, I'm Mike Carruthers, and this is Something You Should Know.
So the next time you get Chinese takeout, just take a second to admire the box it came in, because that little folded carton is one of the great accidental American inventions. What we call the Chinese takeout box wasn't invented in China at all. It was invented in Chicago in 1894 by an American inventor named Frederick Weeks Wilcox, who patented something called The paper pail.
It was originally designed to carry oysters, not rice and Kung Pao chicken. The genius of it is the design. It's one sheet of folded paper inspired by Japanese origami techniques, and it creates a sturdy, leak-proof container with a built-in wire handle.
Chapter 4: How can understanding body language improve communication?
Then after World War II, as Americans flocked to the suburbs and takeout food exploded in popularity, Chinese restaurants discovered that this box was perfect for transporting hot food. By the 1970s, a designer added the pagoda graphic and the vaguely Asian-looking thank-you lettering, and just like that, an oyster carton became a cultural icon.
Interestingly, the Chinese takeout container is so not Chinese that if you go to China, you will almost never see it. And that is something you should know. We tend to think of body language as something that's easy to decode. Crossed arms means someone is closed off. Looking up and to the side means they're lying. Except a lot of that just isn't true.
Someone may cross their arms because it's comfortable to cross your arms. Looking away before answering could mean... Absolutely nothing. Real body language is far more subtle, and when you understand it, you can not only read people better, you can become more likable, trustworthy, and easier to connect with. Here to explain how body language really works is Joe Navarro.
He's a former FBI special agent in counterintelligence and counterterrorism, and he is one of the world's leading experts on nonverbal communication. He's author of a book called Mastering Connections, Build Stronger Relationships with the Science of Body Language. Hey, Joe, welcome to Something You Should Know. Thanks for having me. So you've been talking about body language for a long time.
Have there been any new advances? I mean, is this really a science, and is it coming along?
Well, there's certainly many more advances than there were in 1971 when I first started to look at this. I mean, if you stay up with the literature, you're probably reading, as I do, anywhere from three to five... peer reviewed journal articles a week. That's how fast it's emerged. I think where we're at is the realization that number one, it is the primary means by which we communicate.
It is the number one means by which we assess for Trustworthiness for security. Right. When we look through that people and we see who's knocking on the door, that's really what we're assessing for. It's obviously used in inmate selection in most cultures.
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Chapter 5: What is the concept of time abundance and how can it be achieved?
And that's all very intuitive. We assess someone's trustworthiness or how our security feels with a person. We just do that. But knowing the science, what can we do with the science of it to take that to the next level?
Well, the first thing is to realize that we're always transmitting information and so that we're being assessed for approachability, for friendliness, for our state of emotions. And at the same time, we can be assessing others to determine if they're hungry, if they have needs, if they have desires, but even preferences.
Something that you don't think about is, if I were standing in front of you, Mike, you might feel more comfortable if I was two and a half feet away. And I might argue, well, I prefer to be three feet away. Something like that where we can assess for preferences will determine how long we will talk to each other.
Chapter 6: How do successful people manage their time differently?
If you're uncomfortable at two feet, that's going to limit the amount of time we will have together. So there are social advantages. For instance, we know from the research that You will engage someone far longer if you stand at an angle to them than directly in front of them. That if you tilt your head, you'll be perceived as more trustworthy and reliable.
So there are things that we can do to help others. There are things that we can use to... change perceptions, and then of course there are things that we can communicate when things are right or things are bothering us.
And so if you want to make a good first impression, is there enough objective criteria that this is what you do and this is what you don't do?
That's a great question. It depends on the culture, but certainly for the most part, yes, good manners are appreciated everywhere. Every time you see a state visit, whether it's the president of the United States going to China or the French president going to another country, One of the things that you notice is that a big part of that game is the non-verbal.
So there's enough ample research out there that says, yes, being polite, being welcoming, not doing things that are distracting. paying attention to the person that is talking to you for young people is put the devices away.
We know from the research that others and my own company conducted that the minute you plop a laptop computer in front of you and another person that your ratings go down, you're perceived as less accessible. And in some cases, we noted that the overall satisfaction of the meeting goes down.
And by the way, whether it's the airlines or hospitals, 70% of the questions that they ask visitors or patients have to do with body language. You know, did the doctor sit and talk to you?
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Chapter 7: What role does tracking time play in effective time management?
Did they, you know, were they friends?
I mean, these are all nonverbals. You would certainly notice that because you're kind of being hypervigilant when you're with a doctor. Like, you know, how is he acting? Because I'm going to respond to that. And trust is such a big thing between you and your doctor. You don't want to see any clues that he's not paying attention or she's not paying attention.
And so you're really paying attention to that.
Yeah. And interestingly, since they started, since the medical records now have to be digitized, that's impacted on how doctors are perceived, especially those that are typing into a tablet. they're perceived differently by patients. And that has affected their ratings. You know, there's different sites you can go to to rate your doctor. And it's not that you're getting less care.
It's just that the fact that there's a device in the way that is distracting affects how you're perceived differently.
So if I'm in a brief meeting, and so often today we're interacting with people very briefly, and I want to project trust that I'm here to help or that I want to create a relationship here, are there things I can do that will really accelerate that?
Absolutely. Pay attention to the person in front of you. Lean forward. Tilt your head slightly to the side. Cant your head so you have more of the neck exposed. And listen to how they talk and try to talk at the same pace, right? If somebody's a really fast talker and they're Don't slow things down too much. Try to keep up with the person and the preferences for how they prefer that material.
If you have to use a laptop, my recommendation is, and it's being used by a lot of financial institutions now, is tell the person, To get that information, I need to type something in. Put the device to the side so that it's not directly in front. And as you're typing, let them know exactly what you're doing so that they feel they're a part of that rather than being ignored by it.
And that makes for a huge difference.
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Chapter 8: How can listening to birdsong affect mental well-being?
Boy, does that ever. Because you don't know when someone is typing on a laptop in front of them, in a meeting, they could be playing video games, they could be doing anything, and completely ignoring you because you have no other information.
I'll tell you how far it's gone. And I wish I could tell you the financial institution, but I have a long term relationship with them. It's to the point now where they are with their high end clients. These people have flown in from all over the world to meet and so forth.
the people involved in putting these packages together and in sales and in informing them, they are not to wear their smart watches because the tendency is to always be looking at your watch because messages are coming in or the market is fluctuating. And so one of the things that they've done, and it's worked beautifully,
is to actually tell the client, you're so important to me, I'm going to take this off so that we're not distracted. And they're so appreciated. They're so appreciated by that one gesture because they were getting terrible ratings of constantly feeling like they're competing with whatever is on the smartwatch. So, you know, everybody fears AI.
And so what we're really down to is not the speed of information, but how information is delivered. Can this person, the salesperson or the doctor, whoever it is, can they convey those things that I need as a human to make a decision? And as it turns out, the human factor is now more important than ever.
In a moment, I want to explore with you some of the common beliefs people have about certain body language clues and whether or not they're true in just a moment. I'm speaking with Joe Navarro. He is a former FBI special agent in counterintelligence and counterterrorism, and he's author of the book Mastering Connections, Build Strong Relationships with the Science of Body Language.
So, Joe, there are certain beliefs people have about body language, like crossing your arms means you're defensive or that you're closed up. And whether or not it's true... Should you just not do it if you're inclined to do it and you're not feeling defensive, you're not feeling closed up, but maybe you should just not do it because of the message it sends? What do you think?
The fact is, is that we cross our arms because it's a self-comforting behavior. Yeah. And it's one of the first behaviors that we learn while we're still in the uterus. We comfort ourselves as babies. In fact, that's the ideal position for the arms as we enter the birth canal. But there is still the misconception.
And I think what overcomes that is the fact that if we have a big smile on our face, as we're talking to somebody. I found myself in the hallway the other day in my building talking to another tenant and we're both leaning against the wall and we're both with our arms crossed and we were very comfortable doing so. So I tell people, if you feel comfortable doing it, just do it.
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