Communication skills are key to success in our professional, emotional, and social life. They allow us to form trustworthy relations, bridge misunderstandings, and create healthy social communicative spaces for us and for others. Communication skills are learned skills. They have an underlying structure and a set of conventions that regulate their practice. And while experience and everyday social interactions can, over the years, teach us a lot about the art of communication, only explicit and overt forms of learning makes us effective and successful communicators.
In today’s post, we are sharing with you this collection of what we believe are some great guides to help you in your journey to becoming a fluent communicator. These books are packed full of insightful tips, strategies, and tactics that you can apply in your on life and teach to your students to help them learn how to ‘communicate for success’.
Please note, the links below are Amazon affiliate links enabling me to earn from your purchases.
1- How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships , by Leil Lowndes
“The author has spent her career teaching people how to communicate for success. In her book How to Talk to Anyone, Lowndes offers 92 easy and effective sure-fire success techniques – she takes the listener from first meeting all the way up to sophisticated techniques used by the big winners in life.”
2- Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, by Douglas Stone (Author), Bruce Patton (Author), Sheila Heen (Author), Roger Fisher (Foreword)
“We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success.”
3- Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds, by Howard Gardner
“Think about the last time you tried to change someone’s mind about something important: a voter’s political beliefs; a customer’s favorite brand; a spouse’s decorating taste. Chances are you weren’t successful in shifting that person’s beliefs in any way. In his book, Changing Minds, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner explains what happens during the course of changing a mind – and offers ways to influence that process.”
4- The Fine Art of Small Talk: How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills — and Leave a Positive Impression, by Debra Fine
“Nationally recognized communication expert Debra Fine reveals the techniques and strategies anyone can use to make small talk–in any situation. Do you spend an abnormal amount of time hiding out in the bathroom or hanging out at the buffet table at social gatherings? Does the thought of striking up a conversation with a stranger make your stomach do flip-flops? Do you sit nervously through job interviews waiting for the other person to speak? Are you a “Nervous Ned or Nellie” when it comes to networking? Then it’s time you mastered The Fine Art of Small Talk.”
5- Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact, by Phil M. Jones (Author)
“Often the decision between a customer choosing you over someone like you is your ability to know exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to make it count. Phil M. Jones has trained more than two million people across five continents and over fifty countries in the lost art of spoken communication. In Exactly What to Say, he delivers the tactics you need to get more of what you want.”
6- What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People, by Joe Navarro (Author), Marvin Karlins (Author)
“Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to “speed-read” people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You’ll also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you.”
