Customer Reviews

How to Say It at Work: Putting Yourself Across with Power Words, Phrases, Body Language, and Communication Secrets

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I started teaching people to make PowerPoint presentations around 1992. Around 1995, I realized that many people were talking about themselves, so I suggested that the most important word they could use was "You." In 2003, I realized that people who wanted to be accepted by their audience should use the word "We." And then I picked up this book and read that the the three most important words in a business person's vocabulary were "we," "us," and "our." And that was on page eleven. At that point I was sold.

It's very easy to open your mouth and say your message in a way that alienates people. Very few people can negotiate difficult communications, but this book will help them do this. The book shows you words, phrases and body language to use and to avoid. It has numerous samples of conversations you can have with your fellow workers to put yourself in the best position.

The book covers all kinds of spoken business communications - the four largest sections include Getting a Job, speaking with your Supervisors, your Colleagues, and your Subordinates. Other groups are Prospective Clients, Current Clients, Handling Credit, Collection, and Customer Complaints, Vendors and Suppliers, and Lenders and Investors. In many cases you'll see the traps you can fall into.

You need to use this book with a little thought, in that the circumstances are usually similar to what you have to deal with, but not identical. But a few minutes' reading will change you from being a tongue-tied person to someone who achieves what you want.

I feel sorry for people who dismiss this and other similar books as "just common sense." I've known few people who possessed even a fraction of the skills shown in this book, and my own experience shows that I spent over ten years learning the information that appears in the beginning of the book.

Definitely a must-have, and a good book to build your general communications skills. And you'll stop coming away from meetings thinking, "I wish I could have said that better."

Communication skills are both some of the most important skills you can have and at the same time some of the most lacking skills in most people. In this book Jack Griffin provides helpful advice on how to evaluate and improve your communication skills. The book is filled with self-tests so you can evaluate how well you handle various communication skills. From there he provides an in-depth analysis of the most critical components of those skills followed by positive methods to improve your skills.

All of the most common communication needs in a work situation are covered whether it is dealing with a supervisor, subordinate, customer, potential customer, creditors, customer complaints, vendors, investors or job interviews.

One of the unique things about the book are the lists of words and phrases to use as well as ones to avoid and why. A recommended read for anyone seeking to improve their communication in all aspects of the work environment.

This is an excellent book for anyone who thinks of the right response about three days too late. This book also provides a good framework on which to base verbal communication. It is especially useful for anyone that is shy, non-assertive, non-confrontational, or simply wants to put forth a professional image. I use it as an example in my Customer Service and Career Search classes and the students love it!

I don't agree with absolutely everything in the book (I had a few problems with how to treat a tyrant boss), but overall, it was very good.

This book gave me the ideas I needed to do the homework for interviews. I was fully prepared for my job interview though nervous. I was able to give the appropriate answers and ask the appropriate questions.

In my current job this book has been useful when dealing with co-workers.

I have shared some of the information on job interviews with a family member. She had been trying to get a job with a particular agency. She had three previous interviews. She aced the interview after we discussed presentation from this book.

This book is (a) practical - it provides logical, step-by-step details that work, (b) situational - it is organized by the many types of conversations and interactions that one is likely to have on the job, and (c) inexpensive - it offers a lot for the money.

Granted, some of the specific situations covered in this book occur regularly and will be most helpful to readers who may have little or no workplace experience.

The book's real value, however, involves those interactions we have with our bosses, employees, customers, and suppliers that do not happen all that often. When these situations come up, emotions may run high and the stakes may be significant. In my experience, "common sense" alone wasn't always enough to ensure that I got what I needed and still maintained a good relationship with the other person. This book doesn't guarantee that (nothing does), but it does offer guidelines that have helped and worked for me.

If you have natural political savvy on the job, you probably don't need the information in this book. If you are more comfortable dealing with tasks than dealing with the people in your workplace, I think you will find this book well worth twelve bucks and the few minutes it takes to read about a specific interaction before you're actually having it.

I bought this while interviewing and now I keep it at work. I got the job I wanted with my top salary request. Useful, easy to understand and put into practice. Things you didn't realize about posture, facial expressions, simple phrasing, voice tone, etc. Great investment.

This book address 3 different areas of work related communication.

The first is a fairly detailed guide on the language of being in the corporate world. They book gives large vocabulary lists telling the reader what to and not to say. This is hugely important for two reasons. First,it gives very solid examples of what you should say and the reasons. Second, even if the words coming out of your mouth do not correspond to the emotional feelings you are having, this book will at least make you sound like you're feeling and thinking the way you are suppose to in a corporate environment. To quote Mastercard, that is "Priceless". This section also is ideal for those interviewing as it reminds you of all the language you should and should not use.

The second section talks about different types/styles of management. For anyone who has experienced a really bad manager, this book is one of the best I have ever read. I've had a plethora of really bad managers; and have therefore read a lot of books on this topic. I can say with great certainty that this is one of the best versions of this discussion I've seen because it describes clearly the problem and also TELLS you what to do. The framework of describing four different bosses (I don't want to give it away) is excellent. The methodology of defining boss types and providing dialogue and conflict statements common to these types of people is genius. They are so good,I have actually read pages from this chapter for friends experiencing difficulty. All of them have remarked that the responses provided are excellent and that the advice is something they can understand. Most would buy a books on tape version (they are not readers) if it were available.

The third section is on sales, client service issues, etc. I think thematically he gets to the heart of things. For some types of sales, this is not the right sort of book to read. There's a lot of good material, but I feel that its a bit specific to a certain type of sales. This is the section that lost the book 1 star.

If you are considering this book to prepare for an interview, reduce work related conflict, increase confidence in interpersonal interaction in the office, or because you work for a total jerk, then definitely purchase it. It will come in handy. If you are primarily interested in and have already read a lot about sales AND could care less about the other topics, then browse Amazon a bit more for sales specific literature. This book (used) can get pretty cheap, so I still think it's worth it if you're on the fence.

I'm half-way through the book now and I found some pretty good advice there. The examples though not always the brightest are concise and should do the job of giving you a lead on how to go on from there (in your own style etc.) The bottom line: reccommended, but to be read 'smartly'.

Wow. I read 3 pages of this book and it helped me solve a huge problem at work. Great book. So glad I bought this before a particular meeting... Perfect tool for any manager, employer or employee.

Divided into sections to use as a quick reference for various business situations. Great tips