Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Useful advice, very general, a somewhat more modernized Dale Carnegie. Not as in-depth as I would have liked but nonetheless a good set of guidelines.
I’ve been told I’m already pretty good at small talk so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book. It read a bit dated — it is from 1997, but some of the lines and quotes felt rather robotic and stiff. The advice on being gutsy/stepping out of your comfort zone to start small talk, however, is timeless. It is definitely nothing earth shatteringly new, but I could see how some of the advice could be beneficial to those who struggle with how to start a conversation, though I do not recommend following the one liners she offers up as suggestions (would you please hand me a napkin?). I also see this being geared more towards sales types of roles or business as the small talk seemed primarily for jobs that require socializing, not to mention she spoke about how in sales it is important to develop a relationship with the customer. Easy read, I laughed a lot while practicing some of the lines out of context on friends and seeing their reactions.
This will be a good book to have on hand at all times because I won't possibly remember all the tips and pointers. I need a refresher every once in a while. I've gotten rusty already since I had to give it back to the library. I think I will be purchasing this book.
This is a book for business people and people looking to improve short-term networking skills. I'm am neither of these. It's rather surface-level and not too interesting for anyone outside of it's demographic.
A decent recommendation to anyone who's shy at social gatherings or while keeping up a conversation with people, known or strangers. Gives some really potent tips and tricks, and points some common mistakes made while talking to people.
Easy and good.
Easy and good.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Very helpful advice. Lots of dos and don'ts and solid reasoning behind them, and there's plenty of repetition which makes it easy to remember things and put them into practice immediately. Although I don't think I would use any of the example icebreakers since they seem really stiff, they do illustrate the points in the book really well. The only advice I thought was odd was to "never tell jokes (unless you're a master joke teller)", that's just stupid.
Another reviewer said something like this is a pamphlet worth of good tips in a book with of encouragement and anecdotes. That sounds about right. I might have given it 2 stars for the writing, but I gave it a bonus star because I have actually put its advice to work a bit with positive results.
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
informative
It's an okay book. Unless you are totally inept at social or business occasions with almost no clue of what to talk about, then this book is not going to be of much help. There are a few good ideas in the book that come up during the early portions of it. But otherwise, it's mostly a list of things to do and not to do supported by tons of anecdotal stories.
You'll not be disappointed too much if you read quickly.
You'll not be disappointed too much if you read quickly.