Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in 101 of Life's Toughtest Situations [Paperback]

Stephen M. Pollan (Author), Mark Levine (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0020360487 | ISBN-13: 978-0020360483 | Publication Date: May 24, 1996 | Edition: 1

Whether you're looking for a new job, leaving an old one, cold calling a new account, laying off a subordinate, confronting a back-stabber, dealing with sexual harassment, returning food in a restaurant, or calming an irate client, "Lifescripts tells you exactly how to do it and what to say. Each of the 101 dialogs provides you with an ice-breaker opener and a flow-chart of rejoinders to give to any potential response, positive or negative. Pointers on proper attitude, timing, preparation, and more are included.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (May 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0020360487
• ISBN-13: 978-0020360483
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need a graceful way to get out of a situation?, January 23, 2001

By 

JB "Devoted Amazonian since 1996" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in 101 of Life's Toughtest Situations (Paperback)

I wish I'd read this book long before I had. The authors present you with some of life's stickiest situations and then tell you exactly how to handle it with words. What makes this book so invaluable is that the authors don't assume that the situation always involves bitterness--for example, their suggestions for leaving a job actually admit that it could just be a peaceful exit.

If you want to know how to disentangle yourself from an employer you're sure is going to hold a grudge, they give you elegant ways of telling your future employer about it. Use their method, and you won't sound whiny, belligerent, or even disgruntled! If anything, their methods make the former employer's words about you look questionable and stilted. I did use their ideas on this, and THEY WORKED.

To be brutally honest, this book is all about spin and the power it holds. So often in communication with one another, we forget that what we say is just as important as how we say it. In the age of emails and faxes, we're losing our manners and making unintentional enemies in the process. This book will re-educate you on the finer points of being nice and, dare I say it, being emotionally neutral.

The authors clearly illustrate that our emotions keep us from being objective about a situation, and this is why Lifescripts is so helpful. They teach you how to distance yourself just enough to see the whole picture and then give you the words/actions necessary to properly deal with the problem. They also teach about a long-forgotten nuance of communication--take a pause and think before you say it/do it/write it.

It's an excellent book that any manager, employee, or senior executive could easily benefit from, and I think it's even appropriate reading for high school age. Knowing when to say what can save you a lot of trouble...

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your #1 Reference for People, January 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in 101 of Life's Toughtest Situations (Paperback)

Take my advice and disregard any bad reviews of this book. First off, it comes with a CD that includes the entire book in PDF with every chapter and "people issue" listed for single-click access. That alone is worth the price! What I like most about the format is how the advice is laid out like a flowchart. It starts with what you might say. Then, depending on the person's response, your next response follows a certain path. And so on. It really is a great book; it's a shame that Amazon doesn't have the table of contents available for you to see the hundreds of different situations included. I learned more low-level information from this book that the $2600 Dale Carnegie course I took. Now that's a deal!

4.0 out of 5 stars Well done, a little dissapointed, June 8, 2007

By 

Douglas Figueredo (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in 101 of Life's Toughtest Situations (Paperback)

This book is well done, very flow-charty with branches of what possible things can happen and how to handle them in any given situation. I was a touch dissapointed - just that I thought it would be more concept oriented. The CD is worth getting the book I suppose, since you can just keep that handy and refer to it as needed. Neutral feelings on this.