New Business Book Summary Available for Hear & Now

According to Chris Davidson, more than half of women in the workplace feel their voices are not truly being heard. However, in Davidson's experience, the female communication model is the more successful one to follow for effectively communicating in the workplace. In Hear & Now, Davidson offers several methods for boosting confidence when communicating in the workplace.

New Business Book Summary Available for Presentation Advantage

Presentation Advantage by Kory Kogon, Dr. Breck England, and Julie Schmidt provides individuals with detailed, practical guidelines for creating successful presentations. Through examples, case studies, and references to Stephen R. Covey's principles, the authors describe both the philosophy and the literal tasks presenters must follow to be effective.

New Business Book Summary Available for Pitch Perfect

Verbal communication is one of the most important skills in a person’s work life. The words people choose to use in a situation, the tone of voice they adopt, their ability to express themselves concisely, and the interest they show in what others have to say can all contribute to success in landing a job or a promotion, making a sale, or closing a deal. In Pitch Perfect, Bill McGowan, a communications consultant and former television news producer, and Alisa Bowman outline seven principles anyone can put into practice to achieve pitch-perfect communication skills.

New Summary Available for Your Perfect Presentation

In Your Perfect Presentation, Bill Hoogterp conveys many important principles of public speaking, such as the importance of telling stories, the unique value of obtaining constant feedback, and the need for continual improvement. Focusing first and foremost on dramatically improving individual presentations, Hoogterp also applies the same principles and techniques to conducting meetings and conference calls, hosting and participating in panel discussions, giving motivational speeches, and developing and delivering effective elevator pitches.

As We Speak

As We Speak provides the tools and techniques that will help speakers improve their communications with others, whether it be at a meeting, a large presentation, or in one-on-one interactions. By learning to speak with intent and clearly understand what the listener cares about, a speaker can learn to establish a bond with the listener, which is critical if the speaker wishes to influence. Peter Meyers and Shann Nix explain the variety of opportunities speakers have to communicate with their audiences beyond the spoken word, including their eye contact, vocal techniques, facial expressions, and body language. This valuable knowledge can assist any individual in strengthening their communications skills.

Say It Like Obama

The Big Idea
Barack Obama has brought the power of oration back to American politics. In speech after speech, Barack Obama has “fired up” millions of enthusiastic supporters with his inspiring vision, rousing rhetoric, and charismatic presence.


Creating Strong First Impressions – Image and Body Language
The strong first impression that Barack Obama makes reminds us that body movement and image speak a language to the audience as potent as anything said out loud.

Barack Obama is adept at establishing excellent first impressions. Good eye contact has also been valuable to Obama.


Effective Use of Body Language and Voice
In the delivery of his 2004 keynote address, Barack Obama demonstrated outstanding use of body language. In short, Obama created a very strong first impression.

Obama came across as authentic. Like Bill Clinton’s story, Ronald Reagan’s story, Harry Truman’s story…” This has helped him connect with audiences; his life story is viewed as a classic story and it has endeared Obama to millions of Americans.


Practices for Earning Trust and Confidence
Given Obama’s tremendous success, leaders have much to learn from the way he uses excellent communication practices to earn the trust and confidence of others.

Charisma helps leaders energize and motivate others.

Image and body language are also important for forming strong first impressions. Notable second impressions can reinforce strong first impressions.

Strong communicators remember the importance of props and staging in sending sub-messages that reinforce key themes. Obama’s success demonstrates many best practices with regard to winning hearts and minds.

Excellent communicators use details skillfully to demonstrate that they understand the experiences and perspectives of audience members. Empathy and action – these are things the audience seeks.


Driving Points Home
Leaders have much to garner and apply from Obama’s successes. Rhetorical questions help crystallize attention on key ideas.

When leveraging the “power of three,” skilled communicators underscore key points, building momentum or enhancing a sense of logic.


Conveying Vision
Leaders also have much to learn from the way Barack Obama conveys vision so effectively to audiences. Use of dynamic imagery represents another useful communication technique.

Finally, effective communicators often offer anecdotes, providing brief narration and short tales to breathe life into key themes. A speaker can inspire others to great achievements by employing words that resonate, including words that evoke shared values, patriotic values, and cherished principles.

Outstanding orators will build to a high point and end on that high, leaving listeners stirred, inspired, motivated, and focused on key themes.

This helps to keep those themes and ideas dominant in the minds of audience members.

BusinessSummaries.com is a business book summaries service. Every week, it sends out to subscribers a 9- to 12-page summary of a best-selling business book chosen from among the hundreds of books printed out in the United States. For more information, please go to http://www.bizsum.com.