Talking from 9 to 5: How Women's and Men's Conversational Styles Affect Who Gets Heard, Who Gets Credit, and What Gets Done at Work

I wish I would have read this book 20 years ago. It was an eye-opening experience. As a female executive working in a male-dominated profession, this book shed new light on interactions I've had with male colleages, bosses and employees where I felt something had been "lost in translation" but couldn't put my finger on why. Put another way, this book teaches you the other gender's "secret language." In a dream world, this would be mandatory reading for all men in the workplace. Males who are not aware of these communication differences are likely not hiring or promoting talented female employees because they misconstrue their politeness for passiveness, or their humble remarks (or even self-degrading remarks) for lack of confidence, etc. As a working woman, reading this book gave me an advantage. After reading it, I find myself using a different communication style now with males at work than I do with females at work. At least now I am aware of how the "female" communication style I naturally use is probably being heard by my male superiors. Likewise, as a boss I've put this book, along with "Who Moved My Cheese?", on the reading list for new hires. Substantively, I felt the book could have used some major editing starting about half-way through where it became a bit tedious. But it's worth the read for the important lessons learned. Lastly, others have criticized this book for not offering solutions to the problem. The solution is awareness. If both genders are aware of these communication differences, the problem is virtually eliminated.

Just finished reading this power book on communication and I loved it! It goes into the kinds of detail that women (and men) need to know so that success comes more naturally at work. The author's book is full of relevant facts and theories that are helpful.I also recommend a book that my company uses in its training programs -- it would be helpful to anyone who wants to integrate her or his skills together as a top performing leader. It's called ""The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills.""

This is a useful, interesting, provocative description of differences between men's and women's speech behaviors. Tannen takes an essentially socio-cultural stance in explaining the reasons for these differences. Not only does she present coherently her ideas, her speech is crisp and animated; thus, it is a delight to listen to her. This audio is an excellent introduction to Tannen's work on this subject. I ask students enrolled in my Gender and Communication course to listen to this edited tape in lieu of purchasing the book, as this proves to be an efficient alternative to reading the entire book. For instructors similarly inclined, I recommend purchasing two or three copies to be placed on reserve in the university library.

I found her research compelling--there is little speculation in this book. It is based on what is actually happening at work, and for that reason, I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to improve communications in the workplace.