Thinking on Your Feet: How to Communicate Under Pressure [Paperback]

Marian K. Woodall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996 | ISBN-10: 0941159965 | ISBN-13: 978-0941159968 | Edition: 2nd

When you are under pressure, can you communicate with clarity? In business, community affairs, at home...learn to think --and speak--on your feet, to respond appropriately and confidently every time. Using proven strategies, on-target tactics, and practical examples, this book will help you improve your end of any conversation. You'll discover how to answer impressively, even if you don't know the answer; polish your delivery so you can tackle tough questions head on; say, 'It's none of your business in socially acceptable terms; reply, 'I don't know' and still be convincing; develop good conversations even with difficult people. If you have ever been caught off guard in a meeting, stumped by a query in a sales call, suffered an embarrassing silence in a job interview, or thought of the perfect rejoinder--after the conversation, help is here in 'Thinking On Your Feet.' What you need to know is featured in a new Quick Guide. Job interviewing, gender communications, Q & A, and opportunities to say a few words are examined, with precise tactics and lively before-and-after examples.

--This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...it's wholly different when the decision has to be made NOW.Woodall shows how in 109 easy-to-read pages." -- Orange County Register, August 12, 1996

"...teaches techniques for organizing thoughts... : pause, repeat question, ask for clarification, listen for the heart of question." -- Hudson Valley Business Journal, May 20, 1991

"..Woodall has this advice for candidates: keep it short. View a debate as the most important job interview of your life." -- San Francisco Examiner, October 6, 1996

"Marian Woodall knows about what she, and others, speak. She has made a career out of improving communiations skills." -- Tucson Citizen, February, 1997

From the Publisher

How to communicate under pressure is a skill everyone needs to master. Skillful communicators are able to succeed, but many have told us they didn't know exactly how they did it. The strategies here are specific, precise, concise, and practical. The examples are lively, amusing, real life incidents. Whether you feel you think on your feet just fine or want to, this book will make you more confident--and more successful-- in your dealings with others.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Professional Business Communications; 2nd edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941159965
• ISBN-13: 978-0941159968
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Whether you need better focus in presentations, sharper job interviews, quicker responses to questions, or getting desired attention from your spouse or boss, help is here. Reflecting Marian K.Woodall's vast and varied experience, her books will help you be a more successful communicator.

Who seeks help? A regional airlines pilot who wanted to make the big jump to a major airlines. He now flies the friendly skies of United! A teen whose goal since childhood was to represent her favorite breed of horse, as Miss Pinto of America. She did! A female executive who felt she was ignored and put down by male colleagues. With a few strategies for power and equality, she gets the respect and attention she needs!

Known as The Speechdoctor, Marian has over 35 years of experience and advice worth sharing. And she does share it, as author of five popular communications books, as a national professional speaker, and as an executive speech coach, professional athletes, marketing and sales, political candidates, women in all walks of life.

Marian's books can be found--translated and published--in many foreign countries, including Great Britain, China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico. Her webpage is www.speechdoctor.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thinking on Your Feet: How to Communicate Under Pressure (Paperback)

This book contains all tip and tactics you need to keep conversations and presentations from getting out of hand. If someone is heckling you during an important presentation or asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, this book gives you advice on responding tactfully so you do not look irresponsible, weak, etc.

In essence, this book helps convey the art of BSing. Everyone has known someone in their life who can talk their way out of any situation. This book can help you become someone like that. Very highly recommended!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very elementary and not much info here, November 17, 2000

By 

Rodney Kolke "Rodmania" (Nanaimo, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thinking on Your Feet: How to Communicate Under Pressure (Paperback)

I found this book to be very limited in regard to content. I was looking for more advanced techniques, or at least a more detailed study of actual methods for accomplishing what the title advertises. The author could have presented the main points of this book on a few pages and saved us all the time required to read the filler material. Just about any book you pick up about public speaking or personal communication contains the advice found here. "Repeat the question - It gives you a few more seconds to think about your answer" is about as advanced as the info in this book gets.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking on Your Feet, November 9, 2007

By 

Katharine Cohen (Murray, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thinking on Your Feet: How to Communicate Under Pressure (Paperback)

This powerful little volume, now in its 20th year, is a classic of its genre. From page one Woodall coaches the reader in developing skillful, confident responses to sticky questions. She says, "Thinking on your Feet means saying exactly what you want to say at exactly the right moment . . . ." Her method and examples provide common-sense means for gaining the high ground in any conversational situation. It's guidance one can use without the distraction of theoretical or statistical overkill. Thinking on Your Feet follows its own advice, recognizing that brevity is not only the soul of wit, but of wisdom. I agree with Kare Anderson (www.sayitbettercenter.com) that "This is the best single book for learning to maintain composure when responding to a hot situation or volatile person." Highly recommended.