The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the most important negotiation and influencing skills to have? How can you make your offer look more attractive? Negotiations require more than just statistical skills. You also need to understand the psychology of negotiation and use influencing tactics to make your offer appeal to the other party. Keep reading to learn vital negotiation and influencing skills that you need to have.
Are you ready to speak your truth? What are ways to get comfortable with being open and honest? No one should have to live a lie. Everyone deserves to live the life they want, and that includes being open about your thoughts and feelings with the people around you. If you’re ready to uncover your truths, keep reading.
Do you want to better understand nonverbal communication? Do you wish you could read people’s emotions using their body language? In The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior, retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro offers a reference guide that explains a wide breadth of body language cues. The guide is intended to create a foundation you can use to study and interpret nonverbal communication. Continue reading for an overview of this book that provides a broad introduction to body language.
What’s the anchoring effect in negotiation? Should you make the first offer? If so, what should it be? According to Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman’s book Negotiation Genius, the anchoring effect refers to the first piece of information offered in a negotiation. This point determines how the rest of the negotiation will go. Learn more about anchoring in negotiation below.
Do you have an issue that needs to be resolved? How should you prepare to talk about problems? Whether the problem is with yourself or others, preparing for the discussion is a great way to get organized. No matter who you’re talking to, Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott says you should clarify all the important details so you can contextualize and clearly explain the topic to others. Here are easy steps for talking about problems.
How confident are you that you can read body language accurately? Do you know how to read cues collectively or just individually? You can use many body language cues to reliably and consistently assess someone’s emotional state. But, retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro says that there are some contextual factors to consider before forming conclusions based on your observations. Read more to get an introduction to body language from Navarro by exploring two of his tips for assessing the context of cues.
Why is it hard to explain what makes a story good? How does that impact our ability to write good stories? What can we do to overcome that difficulty and craft interesting narratives? In Wired for Story, Lisa Cron argues that our brains evolved to absorb information through stories. So, writers who want to create compelling narratives should write in a way that satisfies our brains’ expectations of story. Continue reading for an overview of this book that takes a fresh approach to story writing.
What’s logrolling? How does it create value in a negotiation? Logrolling means trading negotiation items that both parties value. Understanding what each party cares about most is crucial to nailing down a deal. Continue reading to learn more about logrolling in negotiation.
Do you need to have an intimate conversation with a group of friends or a work team? How can you guide a small group discussion? One of Susan Scott’s conversation models in Fierce Conversations is intended to be used for intimate conversations with one or a few people. Its purpose is to find the root of an issue and surface effective and sustainable solutions by uncovering other peoples’ truths. To structure your small group discussion according to this model, take the following steps.
Can you tell when someone is anxious? Is sweating always a sign of stress? If you were able to detect when someone else is stressed out, imagine how helpful it would be to be able to adjust your own words and behavior accordingly. In The Dictionary of Body Language, retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro shares four common anxious body language cues. Keep reading to learn how to tell if someone is anxious by interpreting their body language.