Customer Reviews

Communicate!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Perhaps this book is considered, by some people, to be a college-level volume, but the simplification of the subject is of the most demeaning of sorts. It begins by teaching you the most basic of ideas, the communication process (entailing the meanings of words like context, participants, messages, channels, noise, feedback, and so on), drudges through some page-filler slush about why we should communicate, and finally, in chapter twelve, gets to a little something on public speaking - what I thought the book, considering its useage, was designed for.

To illustrate the simplicity of this book, the content (broke into four sections) is as follows:
(1) Foundations of Communication, the first 100 pages - including some topics like verbal and nonverbal communication, plus the perception of self and others.
(2) Interpersonal Communication, the next 110 pages - includes topics ranging from listening and job interviews to communicating in relationships.
(3) Group Communication, ranging at only 20 plus pages of content - tells you how to participate in groups and about leadership in groups.
(4) Public Speaking, the last 160 pages - finally touches on how to pick a topic, research it, adapting to an audience, and takes a lot of time differentiating between informative vs. persuasive speaking.

If you need something to teach you the ABC's of speech, perhaps you might want to look into this. Still, if you actually want to know something more than the most basic thoughts on this subject, I would advise skipping this altogether and thanking yourself for it later.

The previous reviewer who has mentioned that this particular text is rather demeaning perhaps needs to re-examine his statement. He laments about the text being too simplistic and emphasizing too much on the basic values of communication. However this type of erroneous approach is the reason why these reviewers fail to communicate their ideas clearly- it is obvious that they themselves need to learn the art of communication better.

The book is extremely detailed in explaining the necessity of communication and many basic concepts. This is extremely important because too often we forget about the reasons behind communication. The book provides a comprehensive sketch on every form of communication- examples are provided and sections are clearly dilineated. Is there anything wrong with explaining the basic functions of communication? The author provides six of them: to meet needs, to enhance and maintain our sense of self, to fulfil social obligations, to develop relationships, to exchange information, and to influence others. It is often important for many of us to be reminded of the reason behind why we communicate. It may sound boring and uninteresting, but such knowledge provides us with a solid foundation on the principles of communication and why we shouldn't take the art of communicating for granted.

This is not a book for those who intend to take a crash course on how communicating can earn you more money in 30 days. Rather, it is the type of book that clearly explains all the various elements that are a part of communication in our day to day lives. This is a perfect text for both students who wish to improve their communication skills, and for teachers who plan to use it as a classroom text or reference on the subject.

This textbook was required for my communication class. At first I thought it was kind of interesting looking at the aspects of communication that are often overlooked. Then I realized that there wasn't really that much content. The book is definitely a bit repetitive throughout each chapter. Each chapter discusses its topic, but the review material which is generally inserted into each chapter is extremely useless, because it is very much worded like the chapter is. For example, the chapter will introduce a new concept or vocabulary and then on the side of the page include a definition for the word. The definition won't really expand upon or clarify what has been said in the main text of the chapter, it will be very much the same. Since the new concepts and vocabulary is highlighted, there is no reason to include the side definitions as presented in this book. Chapter summaries seem to be useless as well, I guess unless you don't plan on reading the chapter. The book discusses how to give different types of presentations, so there is a bit of value, but I don't think there is anything you might not be able to find online. As for its currentness, the book has very up to date topics and examples. I would have to say that some of the true communication stories are interesting. Other than that the currentness imposed on the book doesn't add anything and often feels awkward. The book mentions current trends, events, people, and even websites, but I don't feel like it is necessary and I think it will date the book very quickly as it ages.

Although the FedEx guy delivered my book to my neighbor, once received I found it to be in very good condition. The book was free of marks or highlights. I was very satisfied with my purchase.

This book is exactly what I needed for my class! Because of the shipment being on time, I was able to succeed in my class! Thanks so much

I got this book right away! Whis is very helpful for a college student that order books at the last minute. I would order from them again!

The book is good but was a requirement for speech class but I don't believe I would run out and buy the book unless I really needed it for class or other reasons. Then again speech is not a great topic for me. I do not like public speaking.

I had to buy this book for a class I am taking. The accompanying CD-ROM and website are extremely helpful and make reviewing the information in the book more interesting. The crossword puzzles of the important terms are a fun twist on studying. The glossaries that can be printed out from the website to accompany the chapters make studying for a test a breeze.

The pages were a little bent, but as it said it was a used book, I wasn't worried. No ripped pages or markings.

This book was in great condition and easy to read and understand. The seller was outstanding!