The Complete Idiot's Guide to Verbal Self-Defense

I love this book/ manual for living. Dr. Glass is the best at presentation of information in a way that is easy to learn and apply!

This book ought to be required reading for all kids old enough to read it, and then they should have to memorize it before being allowed to graduate high school! That said, this book is a fantastic text that belongs on everyone's shelves. It teaches you how to handle yourself in difficult situations, especially if someone else's behavior isn't just annoying, it's abusive. I wish I'd had this book years ago! No, it's not an all-inclusive or detailed book in every area, as some reviewers noted. However, if you're looking for a starting point, this is a fantastic one and you can research further from here once you devour her book.

I already knew about assertiveness and active listening. The skills she recommends are specific to situations where one is being verbally abused. These skills are: the blank stare, the repulsed look, mirroring, the blinding flash of truth, breathe it out (for when you cannot confront), the sudden outburst, and give 'em hell and yell. I have tried them on a coworker with whom active listening and and assertiveness were not working. These skills work GREAT! After "mirroring" her whiny behavior - SHE STOPPED DOING IT. The "blinding flash of truth" put an end to her snide remarks. Needless to say, my time at work is spent much more enjoyably, now. I think this book is great and I would recommend it for anyone who does not like verbal abuse. I want to become the "Verbal Ninja" she describes, and am now just waiting for a worthy opponent. Heheheh.

This book teaches you how to get the physical and verbal advantage over your verbal opponent. Those techniques will help you to increase your self-confidence. YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE WILL BE AS HIGH AS THE HIMALAYAS. The book is truly gold and it can assist anyone and everyone. The communication skills that you also pick up from this book is fantastic. There is a chapter in this book devoted to body language and this chapter alone is worth twice the price of the book (seriously).You will learn the "THE SECRET TO HAVING A GOOD CONVERSATION WITH ANYONE" and "THE FOUR STEPS TO BEING A VERBAL BLACK BELT." These techniques are very GOOD. You will also learn how men and women communicate differently, how to overcome speech impediments, how to identify when someone is abusing you and not just "kidding around," how constant verbal abuse can KILL you (so you have to do something about it), and why verbal abusers lash out (the reasons why will shock you).Most important of all, you will learn so many strategies and have many weapons up your sleeves (using verbal zingers to zap your opponent back for example) when it comes to dealing with toxic verbal abusers and you will know how to allow insults to roll off your shoulder.The book is EXCELLENT because it is a product of the wonderful author's life's work in the field of psychology.This is a a book everyone, I mean everyone MUST GET!

Last Sunday was a lazy Sunday morning, I was at the bookstore with a large Caffe-Latte in hand looking for new investment books. On the way to the investment section, this title caught my attention, as I started to browse through the book, I found it very difficult to put it down... so I bought it! : ) After reading the book, I feel lucky there are no major verbal abusers in my life, either in the past or now. I don't agree with everything the author writes. I know people with speech impediments, lispers, stutterers, monotone droners, name droppers, know it alls, wordy ones etc, but I accept them for what they are, since they haven't done any harm to me. Knowing what they are, I'm also mentally prepared when I meet them, so, they don't really annoy me, because I'm prepared for them before encountering them and if they really did annoy me, I know I can always move on. A very readable and well written book. I hate "The Complete Idiot" part of the title, otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars.