Communication Excellence: Change Your Words, Change Your World

Brian Polansky, a training consultant and formally trained academic, has written a utilitarian guide to practical communication excellence. The book has a conversational tone and includes much of the material used in his popular seminars. As he notes in his introduction: "There are some lessons about effective communication that were true thousands of years ago, that are still true today and will be true a thousand years from today. Think of this book as a collection of universal truths about human interaction" Polansky fulfills the promise made at the subtitle, "a program of verbal fitness for personal and professional success". In a twelve chapter book of 238 pages he surveys theories and enduring principles that range from Aristotle to William Schutz. The book is richly lavished with practical advice on achieving greater communication effectiveness and he folds into that mix an interesting series of vignettes that range from his life as a father to the historical experiences of President Lincoln. His chapter construction is especially notable, for each chapter concludes with a one page summary of the chapter's main ideas. My singular criticism of the work is the absence of references, either a bibliography or footnotes. While this is a popular work, self-help communications, and not an academic text the expectation for citations is different. However, I do believe his work, which is well indexed, could have been enhanced with the inclusion of a reference list. If the litmus test for a self-help book is usefulness, then Polansky's book passes the test. While it does not propound a new theory on communication, it does provide the reader with sage advice and helpful counsel in problematic situations. In the end, this book may be used far more often than it is cited and that in and by itself may be its greatest value.