Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Handling Conflict, Confrontations and Challenging Personalities [Paperback]

Susan Benjamin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2007 | Series: Perfect Phrases

Perfect Phrases for the Right Situation, Every Time

Whether it's hiring employees or creating teams, the Perfect Phrases series has the tools for precise, effective communication in any situation. With Perfect Phrases books, you have all the phrases you need to get things done, right at your fingertips!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Right Phrase for Every Situation…Every Time

No matter where you work or what you do, you're bound to run into “colorful characters” who can make your job challenging. No question-learning to deal with them will prove critical to your success in the workplace. That's why you need this all-purpose reference of ready-to-use phrases to help you handle all kinds of people at all job levels. Whether you work for the proverbial “boss from hell,” manage an office packed with “personalities,” or juggle a three-ring circus of cranky clients, crazy customers, and annoying associates, you'll find just the right words for every situation, including:

• Dealing with brutal bosses and confrontational coworkers
• Turning explosive situations into mutually rewarding ones
• Handling angry customers and demanding clients
• Motivating unproductive workers and irresponsible vendors

Packed with hundreds of handy phrases, this quick-reference guide can be a real lifesaver-on the job, at school, anywhere. It's easy to deal with difficult people…when you have “Perfect Phrases.”

About the Author

Susan F. Benjamin is a communications consultant and the author of 5 books, including Words at Work. Her articles on language-related issues have appeared in USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Daily News.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071493042
• ISBN-13: 978-0071493048
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Business & Investing > Reference
  • #98 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Communications

More About the Author

Susan Benjamin is founder of Words at Work, Inc., which offers writing services and strategies for all sizes of businesses. "Few medium-sized companies, or big ones for that matter, can boast of its skill bank," wrote Tom Peters in his book Liberation Management. Benjamin has also taught writing at Berklee and other colleges in Boston.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

141 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Perfect phrases...for making everyone mad at you, October 18, 2007

By 

Amaz34 (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Handling Conflict, Confrontations and Challenging Personalities (Paperback)

I picked up this book because I thought it might be nice to have a list of ready-made phrases ready to use for difficult people at work. What a mistake! The suggested phrases in this book go against almost everything else I've ever read about effective communications and reads more like a "what to do to "CYA" at work." I find that most of the phrases suggested would, if spoken out loud to an actual person, probably make you no friends and indeed spark quite a few enemies.

The suggested language is often accusatory ("Because you yelled at the group..." and to say to a boss with unproductive comments "Comments like that are unproductive and do nothing but create bad feelings" - seriously, say that out loud and try to make it NOT sound snotty) and I can't imagine using any of these phrases ever in an attempt to communicate positively and effectively with my employees, my boss, my coworkers, my friends, my family, etc.

This book is far from perfect and contains probably the worst suggestions for dealing with difficult people. While the suggested phrases are straightforward, they lack the finesse often necessary to elicit the best response from someone.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible Book - Wasted my Money - Wish I Hadn't, January 18, 2011

By 

HayHewitt (MI United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Handling Conflict, Confrontations and Challenging Personalities (Kindle Edition)

This book did not have many useful phrases. Many were along the lines of "I know how you feel". How do you know how others feel? Also it was not formatted well for Kindle. Many of the "Quick Tips" were cut off because the boxes didn't fit the Kindle screen. Also, a large portion of several pages was just eh same 2008 copyright information over and over again.

If you want good books on this type of material look at "Crucial Conversations" and Crucial Confrontations". They are both exceptionally good.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Phrases for dealing with books that suck, January 20, 2011

By 

Gloria - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Handling Conflict, Confrontations and Challenging Personalities (Paperback)

This book is full of mediocre to bad advice on dealing with nightmare co-workers. I disagree with 70% of what is suggested; it all sounds canned. Maybe it's outdated. Maybe it's helpful for those with a diagnosis of Asbergers.