Customer Reviews

Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought the CDs instead of the book. The content was good and gets one thinking more seriously about the importance of planning and methodology when it comes to getting what you want. My only disappointment ("shock" is a better word) was near the end when Lis Wiehl revealed her feminist side when giving a pep talk to her female listeners/readers saying that "women are smarter than men" and that women are "taking over." I found this very insulting. Imagine if a male author had said "men are smarter than women" and we're "reasserting our dominance." We would never hear the end of it. It made me wonder if the book was only intended for a female audience.

Every once in awhile, a self-help book comes along that makes you completely rethink and improve the way you do things at home, in your job, with your friends and loved ones. Lis Wiehl's WINNING EVERY TIME is as strong and important a book as THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED by M. Scott Peck or THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Steven Covey. After you read WINNING EVERY TIME, you'll handle any tough situation in life, or any conflict you're in, with much more grace, thoughtfulness, and effectiveness. This book is a must-read for any person who wants to become more powerful, persuasive and successful. I highly recommend it!

This book has an interesting premise, but unfortunately the execution didn't live up to it's promise. First, it was poorly organized. I found myself thinking, wait, didn't she say the same thing 50 pages ago? I realized after a while this was because she really only had about 50 pages of content but needed something to fill the rest of the 250 pages. As many of the other reviewers pointed out, the tone was a bit self-serving and condescending, and also she dips into unnecessary political commentary. Why turn off half your audience if you don't have to?

With a very engaging, pleasant voice, Lis Wiehl has written a very helpful, very concise book with extremely useful advice explaining how to win any argument when you know you're in the right. Lis gives great concrete examples and makes the process even simpler by breaking down a lawyer's trial process into basic, easy-to-use steps. I highly recommend this book.

Lis Wiehl manages to simplify the often difficult task of communicating your needs and asking for what you want as the essential first step in getting it. And WINNING EVERY TIME is brilliant in its simplicity.

It becomes clear through the book's examples how often emotion gets in the way of a clear argument by clouding it with subjectivity -- when making an objective case would be far more effective.

As a chef, I hear this all too often in restaurants, when diners raise their voices to waiters when something isn't to their liking. Using the techniques advocated in this book, diners can learn to simply state the facts of what happened and what they'd like done about it, e.g. "My steak is well-done when I specifically ordered it medium-rare. Would you please replace it with a medium-rare steak as quickly as possible?" I can promise you that the waiters and chefs that I know will all respond more kindly to this approach than a raised voice!

The ideas in this book will help you whenever you need to be heard, get something you want, or resolve a difference -- i.e. every day of your life!

--Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning author of Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry, Dining Out, Chef's Night Out, and The New American Chef

I've seen Lis several times on television commenting on things of national importance, and I've always been impressed by her sharp mind, but also her kindness. She's not your typical tv pundit. This book shows that what we should all do better: approach our arguments rationally, rather than irrationally. WIth 8 Steps, Lis shows how lawyers do this in the courtroom and you can do it in life. I'm giving a copy to my mother for Mother's Day. It's a book that everyone can learn from.

Why are there so many 5-star reviews and yet several 1-star reviews? Legitimate difference of opinion in some cases. But when you click on a large sample of the 5-star reviewers' "See all my reviews," you mostly see all 5-star glowing book and/or CD reviews. My guess is that the real ranking would be about 3 stars, once you remove the more than half of the reviews that are fake.

I couldn't agree more with JoAnne Goldberg's comment. I have never posted a review on a book before, but this book was such a waste of time, I felt it was criminal not to... I have to be honest, I couldn't finish it (only made it about 33% of the way through). The information is thin (the "theory of your case" point that trails on forever, could have been summed up in one sentence), and the analogies are weak. "How-To" books like this always seem to state a lot that seems obvious, but I honestly believe the average person will take nothing away from this book.

I had the privilege of reading this book before it was released and I must say, it is very well written and conveys practical advice that we all can use. Lis is not trying to turn everyone into a lawyer nor did she write the book using confusing "legalese". To the contrary, she explains in layman's terms (in a non-condescending manner) how to "lay out your case" and to not react strictly by emotion so you can better deal with a contrary co-worker, a loved one or even your auto mechanic. She also explains how you should figure out what result you want from a situation before trying to handle it. Together with the personal anecdotes/experiences in the book it is a very entertaining read and I would recommend this book to anyone!

A friend in publishing gave me an advance copy of this book, and I must say after reading it I've found myself using these steps to win at work, at home, and in my daily life (I just got a better deal on a stereo system because I took the author's advice.) The best thing about the book is that it puts the practical steps of law to use in a good (and friendly) way. The author makes the point several times the importance of questioning your own motives (that if you're going to 'win' you should be winning for the right reasons or it will feel like a loss.) I highly recommend this book for everyone from a new graduate to parents (there's a great parenting chapter) to anyone who wants to get ahead and still be liked.