by Phyllis Mindell
This is an excellent book useful for anyone who wants to enhance their communication skills.
15 chapters explore the way people communicate, and how communication impacts on credibility and influence. Each chapter contains advice, tips, strategies and techniques to assist the reader to communicate with confidence and power.
Chapter One – ‘Leave the sad stories behind’
This chapter focuses on language and explores the language of weakness and how to acquire the language of success.
Chapter Two – ‘Break free of the grammar of weakness’.
This chapter focuses on grammar. It explores weak grammar and its impact on communication.
Chapter Three – ‘Assert yourself, use the grammar of power’.
This chapter explores grammar that contributes to communicating with power and authority.
Chapter four – ‘Words that work: choose them wisely.
This chapter identifies a six step strategy to achieve the ‘Vocabulary of Power’ – how to use words that will bring to life the grammar of power.
Chapter Five – ‘Get organized: A recipe for confident communication’.
This chapter examines how to plan an effective communication. A ‘no fail’ recipe for successful communication includes ‘13 steps to an organised presentation’.
Chapter Six – ‘Stand up and speak like a woman, perfect your presentations’.
This chapter focuses on presentations: how to construct ‘a talk that works’, what to do when on the floor, presenting when sitting down and job interviews.
Chapter Seven – ‘The body language of power: lead without words’
This chapter explores how to communicate confidence and power through body language and voice.
Chapter Eight – ‘Success has its style: Play your role with panache’.
This chapter identifies how style and dress impacts on communicating confidently and powerfully and gives advice on how to dress appropriately and effectively.
Chapter Nine – ‘Writing the language of success: Use the mighty pen’
This chapter examines writing. Weak writing and its impact is assessed and guidance is given on how to change weak writing to powerful writing.
Chapter Ten – ‘Why can’t a woman read more like a man? Empowerment through reading’
This chapter focuses on how most effectively to read content and offers techniques to ‘read for power’.
Chapter Eleven – ‘But I thought you said …Precise listening prevents problems’
This chapter identifies strategies to improve the listening skill, the impediments to listening, and ‘seven listening techniques that work’.
Chapter Twelve – ‘Running the world – onward and upward’.
The chapter focuses on the language of leadership. Four leadership levels are identified – novice, apprentice, master and mentor. There is a self-evaluation questionnaire for these leadership skill levels.
Chapter Thirteen – ‘The Executive Suite: How to lead with the language of success’
This chapter explores ‘the issues that continue to dog women as our careers advance’. Nine ways to lead people through language and inspire them to follow are offered.
Chapter Fourteen – ‘Issues and Answers: Putting it all together in a complex world’
This chapter examines issues that impact on communicating effectively: – Slurs, slights and put-downs, apologies, miscommunication, how to give criticism, confronting tough personal issues.
Chapter Fifteen – ‘Our heroes ourselves: Empower yourself and others’
This chapter compiles all the recommended practices contained in the book in a table to enable self-assessment and tracking of progress.
The author uses several techniques to enable her recommendations for communication best practice to be applied, and to encourage transfer of learning. These include Crib Sheets: – words and phrases to use immediately, writing practice of grammar and phrases, action planning: – actions to take to apply the information. Each chapter concludes with a ‘Quick tips’ – a summary of the chapter’s content.
This book is so full of information that it could initially be overwhelming. However the book is well worth persevering with as it provides all the information required to communicate with confidence and power.
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© Krista Powell Edwards 2021