How to Communicate, 3rd ed.

This book will take you step by step on what is going wrong when you are trying to communicate with someone. It will give you things to do so that you can see the difference in what you are doing and what they say you need to do.

This book is excellent; the way a book on communication should be. This book is miles ahead of most other books in this field. These authors go straight to the point and do not waste your time with meaningless anecdotes and inspirational fluff. Nor does this book waste your time with nonsense advice which is solely based on some author's misguided notions. All the advice is grounded in empirical evidence and is explained clearly and concisely. Would strongly recommend to anyone looking to truly improve on their not just their communication skills but also on interpersonal relationships as well. 10/10.

Both authors are PhDs in Psychology. Practically every advice written in this book is backed up by some empiracal evidence or study. The book covers all aspects of communication such as listening, body language, and influencing others using operant conditioning. One should note that this book focuses improving relationships through better communication. Hence, this book is not suitable for situations where antagonistic and competitive communication styles are warranted. For example, I thought the chapter on negotiation was poor due to the fact that the book promotes a "nice guy who will listen" approach to negotiation. Such approach to negotiation with no competitive strategic objective will spell disaster against a well seasoned negotiation sharks in a professional environment. Overall, the book offers solid scientifically based advice on personal communication. Just don't rely too much on it in a setting where competition, not cooperation, can be the norm.

This book is a practical and thoughful primer on how to listen and how to talk to improve communication skills. It is comprehensive and direct-- with no "jaw".