How to Talk With Practically Anybody About Practically Anything [Paperback]

Barbara Walters (Author), June Callwood (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell Pub Co (February 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440138841
• ISBN-13: 978-0440138846
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,221,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Influenced my life!, September 25, 2009

By 

Vicki Reece (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything (Book Club Edition) (Hardcover)

In 1970 I was trying to survive as a 12 year old who had recently moved, and was having trouble making friends in a new school and completely different culture. This book was on my mother's shelves. I grabbed it, devoured it all...and applied Barbara Walter's insights and knowledge THE REST OF MY LIFE--EVERYDAY. There's a story where she must interview a significant world leader...does her homework...finds out what he is REALLY interested in...which happens to be growing tomatoes in his garden. She spends her time talking to him about HIS interests, then goes for the typical interview. The lessons apply for making friends, working in any situation, communicating effectively. Ironically 35 years later I was applying this same strategy while interviewing a celebrity myself. Instead of talking about the NFL, we talked about the birth of his child. The piece was wonderful...and yes, it did cycle around to his Super Bowl experiences. But it was Barbara's training that showed me how to tap into people and dig out the nuggests of pure gold. It's classic!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars must have, April 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Talk With Practically Anybody About Practically Anything (Hardcover)

For a journalist, it's how you start a conversation that's most crucial. Her insights on how to start a pleasant conversation will certainly teach journalists as well as others on how to start a chat. This book is for eager learners.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can be life-changing, May 24, 2009

By 

K. Athon - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I read this book almost forty years ago, when I was an extremely introverted pre-teenager, subject even to self-judging suicidal thoughts. I had just moved halfway across the country, a move I actually welcomed because I was willing to get a fresh start with a new school and new friends, if that might be possible. Nevertheless in my new environment, I was still the same shy, nerdy person I had always been - always more eager to avoid people than engage with them. At the heart of my dilemma were the twin worrisome questions: "What should I SAY?" and "Why did I say THAT?"

I took the lessons of the book to heart, adopting the attitude that a good conversationalist doesn't have to say anything, but rather can ask almost anything. It helped me survive my teen years, moved me away from low self-esteem towards self-confidence, prepared me for a college degree in mass communications and is responsible in large part for making me someone that others enjoy being with.