notsosecrethistory's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

ereidsma's review against another edition

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2.0

Not a lot of help, could have been 1/2 as many pages

gavaganm's review against another edition

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hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

kayschwe's review

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fast-paced

3.0

thegulagula's review against another edition

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4.0

Very inspirational.

ivanamrsic's review against another edition

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3.0

Felt like writer could’ve dived deeper into some topic or give more explanation why things are consider good or bad. Overall, easy read and nice introduction to small talk improvements.

benng's review against another edition

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It helped me enough to get me unstuck, and then I lost interest in the personal anecdotes.

cammedham's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

5.0

10/10

This book is a lifesaver when you need to learn how to be a good host, a better friend, a dynamite professional, or just conquer your social anxiety. (And it's not a big book at all thankfully.) It will help you improve your conversational skills in every domain of life.

Debra Fine has a very relatable writing style. Additionally, she is excellent at teaching and explaining how to create good small talk, and why each aspect is important.

I highly recommend this book!

karenreads1000s's review against another edition

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4.0

Yes, this book was based on common sense, but I appreciated the concrete ideas and examples. The Crimes chapter was unnecessarily cutesy. Best section was the Fifty Ways to Fuel a Conversation summary in Chapter 11 and the Winning at Small Talk quiz. The quiz is more a to-do list.

erikars's review against another edition

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3.0

As many other reviewers have noted, this a so-so book with a reasonable amount of good advice -- so pretty decent for a self help book.

Fine's key insight is that small talk serves an important purpose. It's not just mindless dribble that people who can't handle real conversations use to pass the time. It can be the tool that builds the rapport and trust that allows deep conversation to happen.

Fine's key tip is that the key to making good small talk is to get the other person to talk. People like to talk about themselves, and when you give them the opportunity to do so, they think you're a good conversationalist! The way to do this is to ask open ended questions, and then give the speaker the gift of sincerely listening. Not only will this listening be noticed and make the other person help continue the conversation, it will also allow you to pick up on useful tidbits that can be used to move the conversation further forward.

For these two ideas, the book was worth reading.