Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Harper Business, 2006).
The first book to define and scientifically analyze influence.
Amy Cuddy, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges (Little, Brown Spark, 2015).
Helps hackers understand how body language eases our nerves before an engagement, and how we can utilize posture to enhance our communications.
Robin Dreeke, It’s Not All about Me: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone (Robin K. Dreeke, 2011).
Dreeke served as a human hacker in the FBI for years. His is one of the best books about quickly building rapport with others.
Paul Ekman, Emotions Revealed, Second Edition: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life, paperback (Holt, 2007).
No scientist is more renowned than Ekman on the topic of nonverbal communications. This book describes human emotions and how they appear on the face.
Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (Bantam, 2006).
Presents influential research on the amygdala and how it affects our psychology and behavior.
Chris Hadnagy, Paul F. Kelly, and Dr. Paul Ekman, Unmasking the Social Engineer: The Human Element of Security (Wiley, 2014).
An in-depth treatment of how to use nonverbals in everyday life.
Ellen J. Langer, On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself through Mindful Creativity (Ballantine, 2006).
This book focuses on the role of mindfulness, a skill that will benefit any human hacker.
Joe Navarro, What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2008).
One of the best books on body language, from head to toe. Essential reading for any human hacker.
Paul J. Zak, The Moral Molecule: The New Science of What Makes Us Good or Evil (Bantam, 2012).
Zak’s study of oxytocin has changed our understanding of trust and rapport building.