Charming Your Way to the Top: Hollywood's Premier P.R. Executive Shows You How to Get Ahead

I really enjoyed this book. The author basically tells you to honestly be interested in the other person, to listen and treat them as if they are important to you. No where in the book does he say to use manipulation or dishonesty. There is nothing dishonest about caring about the people you do business with, making them know they are important to you nor in sending birthday cards. Wouldn't life be much better for us all if we did take the small extra effort to actually care about others and treat them as though they matter? One thing I liked alot was that he didn't name drop as another author on the subject does in "Never Eat Alone". In my sales as well as in life, I will use what I learned and should have been doing all along.

In an age of instant messaging, email, text messaging, pagers, palm pilots, and the Blackberry today's quarterlifers--people in their teens, twenties, and early thirties--often overlook the relationship behind the electronic communication. Michael has build one of Hollywood's most successful P.R. firms through his attention to those relationships. In Charming Your Way to the Top Michael has boiled down over 20 years of experience in working with our cultures most captivating celebrities and politicians into an approachable and practicle manual for bringing out the charisma in each of us. In many ways it's a back-to-the-basics book. The advice is not hard to follow, yet as Michael points out few people actually do it. I recommend Michaels book for anyone who has asked the question, "What is it about __________ that makes me like them so much?" Charming Your Way to the Top will help you find the answer.

In his book, Charming Your Way to the Top, Michael Levine offers some extremely beneficial insights into being successful in business and, more importantly, in life. In chapter six of Charming, Michael writes that the skill which is most closely associated with charm is listening. He goes on to share that there is nothing to be lost by listening. He states, in fact, how so much is to be gained from listening sincerely to others. I truly admire Michael's idea, because I know the respect that I feel for someone who takes the time to listen to what I have to say. In addition, Michael writes about the importance of listening to someone's name and using it. Since reading this book, I have started to repeat people's names throughout the conversation as Michael suggests. The responses I have seen are amazing. The simple act of asking someone their name when I normally would not is enough to light up their face. As Michael Levine offers, "It is very charming, and clearly quite memorable" (p.48). Levine's book provides an honest and realistic approach to being a successful person. After reading his book, I can understand why he is considered one of the most successful PR executives in Hollywood.

In his entertaining and informative book, CHARMING YOUR WAY TO THE TOP, Michael Levine defines charm as "the act of making the other person believe you care" . . . he then goes on to present countless examples of how this can be done in a wide variety of situations. Levine, who heads his own public relations firm, also mentions names of people who have and haven't used charm in their careers . . . my only regret is that he hadn't mentioned both Cary Grant and Adolph Hitler quite so much and instead had cited his actual clients more. Yet that said, I still liked CHARMING and got much out of it . . . you will, too . . . for example, here were just a few of the ideas that caught my attention: The most obvious way to ingratiate yourself to other people is to demonstrate interest in them. Women often complain that first dates are awful because the men they date rarely want to talk about anything but themselves. Listening as well as talking is a severely under-practiced skill and one that needs to be cultivated and used intelligently. It is simple and basic, but it is also true--we want people to listen to us. Light conversation is a skill and an art--it requires a little thought, and quick reactions. But it is not difficult and it is not dangerous. Asking people how their day is going is a simple and quick way to start a conversation, and-especially-to demonstrate that you are interested in them, in their feelings and problems, at least on a very limited basis. I'm not talking about the robotic "have-a-nice-day" kind of communication that is clearly rehearsed and insincere. In this case, the easiest thing at the dry cleaner, the supermarket, the restaurant, or the bookstore is simply to look the person behind the counter in the eye, smile, and ask, "How's your day going?" Also, using that technique [using someone's name] when leaving voice mail or telephone answering machine messages is a very telling, important point. Yes, identify yourself, but make sure you speak directly to the person for whom you're leaving the message, and use his name. It shows that even during unguarded moments you are thinking of someone other than yourself.

There has been a curiosity of mine that makes me wonder how I could get advance in some situations when competitors with equally or more qualified could not. It works vice-versa in some other situations. Understanding the reason gives anyone a great advantages in social situations, both personal and professional. "10 Commandments of Charming Your Way to the Top" portrays the very essence of how you should look at and treat the person or persons you are trying to charm. It is crucial for you to care about the targeted individuals and try to fulfill the need and wish of her or him. The care you have for the person does not necessary have to be real. However, it seems to me that it is easier to just care for people in general not to mention the targeted individuals than pretending to care according to this book. The care you have for the targeted group should not be temporary because that would give them the impression that you are rude and unstable. This can effect your professional reputation of yours also. In order to avoid this, it is important to be charming (in this case, a person who cares about the public and the person whom he or she is communicating with) all the time so that being charming becomes the nature of yours that is consistent. "Charming Your Way to the Top" gives the examples of celebrities or fictional characters who harness amazing amount of charms and the ones who fail to do so because of the inconsistency of charms they have in different cases such as Roseanne Barr. This consistent nature of your charm should be displayed even in the situations that you are not standing right in front of people. Talking on the telephone or sending E-Mail or letter is the example of the situation. The care you have on the person shows up on your choice of the words, tone of your voice, and the content of your message. Today, we are facing the social situation that people in general are not as nice to each other. They are becoming ruder and ruder to each other each year. This works for your, or our advantages because small but consistent portion of a charm can we harness can help us portray ourselves as significantly charming person who cares about people especially the ones we do business with.