Reviews (1)

An excellent primer for facilitating group work
For people who lead and/or work in groups, this is a terrific little how-to book, practical and readable.I sit on a number of non-profit boards, and I've given it as a gift to all my board members to help us have more effective meetings. I also gave it to everyone in my department -- the book's advice on groundrules and agenda-building has helped us cut our meeting times in half.The book is so well-organized that I can take it into meetings with me and access information and tips quickly and easily.It doesn't load the reader down with theory and jargon.I'm an experienced meeting-manager, and I've read lots more advanced books on the topic, but I still like The Compleat Facilitator the best of all the facilitation books I own -- it's just so useful! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business & Economics / Business Communication    4. Business Communication - General    5. Facilitated communication    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Work groups    8. Communication in management    9. Group facilitation    10. Meetings    11. Teams in the workplace   

Reviews (3)

Inventive but is it practical?
My first observation on this book is that it is focused on the large group not the small group. However, the rationale for some of the large group focus seems to flow entirely from a preoccupation with dividing large groups into smaller groups and then applying tasks or games to these subgroups.If you have never thought about working with groups this book may be of some use, but by and large I judged many of the examples were impractical in terms of the time and resources needed to get deploy them. reveiw by hands-on trainer
This book is packed with icebreakers, but I personally wouldn't use mostof them.They border on the "touchy-feely" side, and will onlywork if your audience is open to that type of activity.

Hot Icebreakers
There are so many great ways to get a group started with this book.It'sperfect for the people who are inactive and very active.Fromget-to-know-games to every-day-fun.This book covers business meetings,weekly meetings, workshops, and almost every other type of get-together. The groups sizes go from small to huge.I would definitly recommend thisbook for any coordinator or leader.Enjoy and have fun! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - Meetings & Presentations    4. Business/Economics    5. Communication In Business    6. Group relations training    7. Meetings    8. Training    9. Business & Economics / Training    10. Business communication & presentation    11. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (5)

A LONG history with this title...
I have used this book frequently as a business consultant and teacher over the last 10 years.It is THE "How To" book on the subject.It goes very well with POLYPROC Policies and Procedures (also available on Amazon - search on Polyproc or Sarbanes Oxley).

Excellent.Easy to read or use as a reference.
No dry reading about theory here.Ms. Campbell has created a very useful tool.

Poorly Written, Hard to Understand
I found this book hard to understand and it didn't follow any great pattern or flow. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Policy Making    4. Business Writing    5. Business/Economics    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Leadership    8. Management    9. Management - General    10. Reference - General    11. Business communication & presentation    12. English    13. Writing skills   

Reviews (8)

Goes for style over substance
I have no doubt that Hoff makes wonderful presentations, but he's written the book as though he's making a presentation. The techniques of effective writing are very different from those of effective speaking. Hoff takes pages and pages to make even the simplest point, something that could have been communicated in three sentences perfectly well. He can't simply just come out and state a something and be content with the fact that he's just shared something extremely useful. He comes off as trying to entertain more than inform. If you're making a presentation to high school students, maybe that's a good idea. But after 50 pages in a book, it starts to feel incredibly condescending. If you want a book that assumes you're reasonably intelligent, don't buy this one.

One of the best !
To prepare my presentations, I went through a dozen books on presentation skills. This book turns on the light bulb! The carton illustrations throughout the book are funny and strike. Just give you an example of how practical the techniques are. I actually used something I learned from this book helped my little daughter on her life crisis. When she told me about other kids were teasing her at school. She had tears in her eyes. I told her to laugh with them the next time. She said, "Are you kidding? How could I!!?". "Just imagine they are ..., looking funny, use your imagination.". Later she told me it worked! And most important, it changed her attitude!

Needed more examples
I am a trainer and thought this book might help me with my presentation skills, but it seems to me it is geared toward sales presentations. I found some useful tidbits here and there, but overall it wasn't worth my time.
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Subjects:  1. Business/Economics    2. Public Speaking    3. Reference    4. Business communication & presentation    5. Language Arts & Disciplines / General   

Reviews (1)

so slow
They said they would ship in 1-2 days.I got it 3 weeks later.Disappointed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business Communication - General    5. Communication In Business    6. Communication in organizations    7. Language    8. Leadership    9. Literary    10. Theater - General    11. Business communication & presentation    12. Performing Arts / Theater / General   

Reviews (2)

MS Office Visio 2003 Inside Out
Very good general reference.Met my expectations and meets my needs.

Reference help book
This book is what used to be called a "manual" that came "free" after you spent a few hundred dollars on software.If you are looking for a manual, this is a good choice, but if you want to learn how to use the program with this, please don't.The examples it showed were not consistent within the chapter, so you could not follow along by trying to try out the concepts after reading easily.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business Software - MSOffice    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers    7. Computers - Integrated Software    8. Data processing    9. Microcomputer Communication Software    10. Microsoft Visio    11. Programming - Software Development    12. Computer graphics software    13. Computers / General    14. Presentation graphics software   

Reviews (5)

Dated but very good
This is a good introductory book for those that need to develop and promote successful seminars and workshops. The book covers what one needs to know about developing a program, market testing, setting the right fees, marketing, promotion, advertising and publicity. The reader is provided with useful practical tips and advice that I have used to good effect.
Very good service.
Book was sent in a timely manner and I received it in good shape. Thanks.

Great information
This book is one of the important books on this topic.I have included this book in my personal library and have referred many people to this book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - Meetings & Presentations    4. Business/Economics    5. Consulting    6. General    7. Handbooks, manuals, etc    8. Seminars    9. Business & Economics / Business Communication    10. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (20)

Brilliant!
Do you want a great "pitch" that makes people laugh, say "wow!", or remember you forever? Would you like to have a fun, simple and effective way to explain what you do in 30 seconds or less?Have you ever stared at the ceiling at 3am, racking your brain to come up with the perfect name for your book, business, or event?If so, this book is for you!
A must read for entrepreneurs, business people, authors and speakers.
Sam Horn does it again.This fun and entertaining book is sure to get your creativity moving with new ideas.Whether you are looking to start a business, build your current business or create a new buzz, this book will give you the tools to break out big. Filled with concrete ideas that you can immediately put to use, it highlights many of Sam's tried and true formulas for success.Don't miss this one if you want to set yourself apart from the crowd.

POP - The best book I've read in marketing!
Reading POP was like traveling to an exotic and foreign land.Where the jungles of marketing were innovatively illuminated and the forrests of being forgotten were erased.Sam Horn teaches beginning and advanced marketing techniques through easily understandable stories, tips and techniques.It's a must read for anybody interesting in improving their presence in the marketplace, immediately, in a unique and effective way!If you have a chance to see Sam live in person on book tour she will take your breath away and ignite your creative and pragmatic engines simultaneously.A must see! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising    2. Advertising & Promotion    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business Communication - General    6. Business Life - General    7. Business/Economics    8. Communication In Business    9. Communication in marketing    10. Business communication & presentation    11. Fiction / Humorous   

Reviews (17)

Good book-bad binding
I enjoyed the author's style and found several useful tips on improving my presentations. Given the accepted wisdom that an audience learns more from a speaker's visual presentation then his/her verbal presentation, his advice concerning acting out a presentation was very helpful.
Inspire Your Audience
"To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. ~E. E. Cummings
2004 Writers Notes Book Award Winner
Having problems making presentations? Putting everyone to sleep in business meet-ings? Stevenson under-stands that a good story captures our attention. Learn to craft engaging and relevant stories and make your point every time. Stevenson shows you how with his trademark Storyteller Method. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business & Economics / Business Communication / Meetings & Presentations    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business Communication - General    5. Business presentations    6. Business/Economics    7. Public Relations    8. Storytelling    9. Business Communication - Meetings & Presentations    10. Non-Classifiable    11. Public Speaking   

Features

• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    2. Business Communication - Meetings & Presentations    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Public Speaking    6. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    7. Vocabulary   

Reviews (5)

Excellent!
I work in a school and this book has already helped me plan several fun activities for teachers, directors, and students. I highly recommend it!

Well written and has good variety.
While many of the activities might suit a business, I was able to find quite a few for small groups in our church. The instructions are thorough and handouts are well done. My only suggestion for the publisher would be to make the book so the pages could be torn out and put in a three ring binder.

Great for Residence Life staff
There are few books on icebreakers/teambuilders that I've found to be useful with college students ( I work in Student Affairs). This book, however, offered many activities that were useful not only for just'breaking the ice' but also for applying them to the many educationalworkshops we do in this field. There was also a very helpful section called"Icebreakers for the Non-Icebreaker types" that was bothinteresting and practical. Because I work with such a diverse range ofstudents, I struggle to find icebreakers that are not geared solely to theextroverted-types. This collection gives a number of activities that arebeneficial to teambuilding while respecting the differentlearning/interaction styles we see in our students. Out of the 201 offeredin the book, I have found at least 180 of them that I will use as integralparts of the next staff training. This book also offers activities forgroups ranging from 8 participants (good for small staffs) to 400participants (good for all-hall activities)! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Decision Making & Problem Solving    5. Employee Training And Development    6. Group relations training    7. Human Resources & Personnel Management    8. Meetings    9. Skills    10. Training    11. Business & Economics / Human Resources & Personnel Management    12. Business communication & presentation    13. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (4)

Activate Your Training
Mel Silberman is the master of active training. Just skimming his book gave me a handful of new ideas I applied to my training. Reading the book helped me to revamp my training courses to include many more participatory training exercises.
Wow!
Great book with plenty of practical comments and ideas which allow you to design a truly active session that both, your audience and you, will enjoy.

The best book in training i have read since i am training
I have pleasant meetings with you book Active Training at the last weeks. I am very impressed from it. The book is the best book that has been written about active teachingandlearning.The booktaught me newactive ways as well.The bookcould help you diagnosis your faults attraining and remind you what you forget to do.The book is very friendly.Active Training make it clear that you can be the best trainer if you justwork for it. "Active leaning" mighthurts but it helps you togrow. I am very grateful about the adventures. The book function like amirror that tell you where your lipstick is not polished , so you cancorrect it.The book gave me new insights even I am teaching for 10 yearsalready .The book is like a mentor If you like you can give your handsand travel at a virtual exelenttraining class. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Education    5. Employee Training And Development    6. Employees    7. Handbooks, manuals, etc    8. Human Resources & Personnel Management    9. Training    10. Training of    11. Business & Economics / Training    12. Business communication & presentation    13. Industrial or vocational training    14. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (18)

A practical guide to excellence in communication
For most occasional speakers, help offered by a book used to be very limited. I have read a lot of communication books talking about smoke and spirits but, Granville N. Toogood offer us a comprehensive guide, plenty of examples, techniques and rules to apply. Do you think this book can improve communication in our business? My answer is clearlyaffirmative after reading the book.
Great Title, not much for the Executive though
Similar to most of the reviews of the book the strong points include helping a person form effective communication with others. It has a nice foundation for people who are new to public speaking, and a reminder for those who have been doing it for a while.
Granville is on point, correct and powerful.
We gave the book to all of our field management and had Granville come and share with them.A few comments from our people were;I wish i knew about this before, it will really help me get my point across quickly", another stated "I will order this book for the rest of my staff" and our President and CEO said Granville is on point, correct and powerful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business/Economics    5. Leadership    6. Management - General    7. Business & Economics / Business Communication    8. Business communication & presentation   

Reviews (14)

The summaries make it worthwhile
I bought and read the books of Tufte and Cleveland (The elements of graphing data). Tufte is pushing things too far, there are certain expectation people have about what they want to see in a graph, but his analysis of the "lie factor" is great and it's a beautiful book. Clevelands book is becoming outdated; the use of colours is really helpful and other than two glued-in pages he does not mention it at all. The analysis is cristal clear and it's full of good and bad examples. Someone ought to rework it, it's invaluable to me.
Not Very Practical
I work in finance and create many charts and graphs. I figured a book like this would help me to design them better. I was really looking for a practical guide rather than a long, rambling academic textbook, but that's how this book reads.
Good supplement to Tufte
For someone like me, a programmer interested in creating better user interfaces, this is a really good book. I have no formal training in creating better visual displays, and this book has helped me understand decent graph layout. I've read the Tufte books, and while I really like them, they are often more qualitative than quantitative (no pun intended) in their descriptions. This book spells out how to make a good table based on the type of data, the number of fields being used, the relationship of the fields, etc. It's very hands on and very usable. My one complaint is I think he strays too far in to the cognitive aspect of how we see and understand data than he needs to given the focus of this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business Communication - General    3. Business Research    4. Business/Economics    5. Communication In Business    6. General    7. Graphic Methods    8. Mathematics    9. Business communication & presentation    10. Mathematics / Graphic Methods   

Editorial Review

Nearly everyone responds to a good yarn, and that's precisely the point behind Read more

Reviews (48)

Timeless classic...
I am thrilled to see a second edition of Annette Simons classic book. As a group process facilitator she lays the ground work for organizational practioners and individuals alike to discover the power of stories. My work has been inspired and guided by this book. The book is short on theory and vague promises and rich in compelling examples. Annette's understanding of stories elucidates a life (organizationally and personally) richer in reflection and full of surprising intersecting connections to each other. And best of all, as the book guides us to rediscover the joy of stories it delights and entertains us along the way. Add this book to your library today and don't let it collect dust!

Great Book!
Very practical and very entertaining.This book made me think a lot about how I communicate with others!

Convincing Throughout
What is so special about The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling? It brings together three trends that have belonged together all along. First, the rebirth of the storytelling art around the developed world and the subsequent appreciation for the mental and emotional processes it unleashes. Second, the emerging realization in the business community that thriving organizations need whole persons working for them-that anything less cheats both the individual and the firm. Finally, the successes of practical psychologies in helping us achieve lasting influence through respectful relationships.You will learn a thousand secrets for influencing others in lasting ways.you will find yourself forever changed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business Communication - Meetings & Presentations    5. Business/Economics    6. Folklore & Mythology - Storytelling    7. General    8. Rhetoric   

Reviews (18)

Mandatory
It is precisely what it claims to be. If you're going to come over here, you should read it. So much information, all in one place. My life would've been much easier if I'd read this five years ago, but perhaps Who Moved My Rice? wouldn't be quite so much fun.
A consultant's review
Excellent guidelines, especially for larger corporations.Can be used by smaller companies that have some expertise in international business, or that are working with a consultant in the subject area.I plan to use it as reference in my classes for small business on the subject of initiating business in China.

Clear and wonderfully practical
As someone who was about to embark on business in mainland China, and who has never ventured further north than Hong Kong, this book has been a god-send.
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Subjects:  1. 1976-    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business And Society    6. Business Etiquette    7. Business/Economics    8. China    9. Corporations, Foreign    10. Exports & Imports    11. Organizational Behavior In Business    12. Social life and customs    13. Business & Economics / Business Etiquette    14. Business communication & presentation    15. Etiquette & entertaining    16. International business   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business communication    5. Business report writing    6. Business/Economics    7. Commercial correspondence    8. Communication In Business    9. Leadership    10. Skills    11. Business & Economics / Business Communication    12. Business communication & presentation   

Reviews (3)

More than an academic perspective
I'm an American based in Japan and working all over Asia. I found this book to be an outstanding analysis of the relationships between Americans and their foreign colleagues or customers. real-life examples of diversity in globalized business
In the past four years, I have used Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace with over 500 community college students interested in cultural differences from a business perspective.This book provides auseful structure for thinking and talking about both the theoreticalfoundations of global diversity as well as the practical implications ofworking cross culturally - -whether from a desk in the USA or travelingand working abroad. The book is well-organized and includes thoughtfullyselected, real-life examples of cultural differences (which I, as anoverseas expatriate of 20 years can verify). The real value of the book isin these multiple examples which give readers a sense of the rich diversityof our globalized world and the importance of encountering business peoplefrom other cultures (both within the USA and abroad) with an awareness of,and sensitivity to, cultural priorities. The case study in the chapter onnegotiations with other cultures is particularly well-conceived and useful.

real-life examples of diversity in globalized business
In the past four years, I have used Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace with over 500 community college students interested in cultural differences from a business perspective.This book provides auseful structure for thinking and talking about both the theoreticalfoundations of global diversity as well as the practical implications ofworking cross culturally - -whether from a desk in the USA or travelingand working abroad. The book is well-organized and includes thoughtfullyselected, real-life examples of cultural differences (which I, as anoverseas expatriate of 20 years can verify). The real value of the book isin these multiple examples which give readers a sense of the rich diversityof our globalized world and the importance of encountering business peoplefrom other cultures (both within the USA and abroad) with an awareness of,and sensitivity to, their cultural priorities. The case study in thechapter on negotiations with other cultures is particularly well-conceivedand useful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business communication    5. Business/Economics    6. Communication    7. Communication In Business    8. Communication in management    9. Intercultural Communication    10. International business enterpr    11. International business enterprises    12. Leadership    13. Social aspects    14. Business & Economics / Business Communication    15. Business communication & presentation   

Reviews (20)

A Good Option for IT People To!
Like it or not, office politics is a reality in every organization, in every department, and on every team.Although it's easy to say that you're above politics because you're a techie, or that you're simply not interested in politics, these attitudes are a recipe for career disaster.This book will help you to recognize, and then deal with in an ethical manner, the various types of politics which you will face over the years.You don't need to become a master politician of the Gordon Gekko ilk, but you should at least be able to navigate the political shoals within your organization.This book is a well written, easy read which provides excellent advice for anyone wanting to succeed within their organizations.It provides clear advice for how to detect when your co-workers are undermining you and more importantly when you're undermining yourself.Although not written for IT people directly, it will clearly help you to interact with, and understand better, your project stakeholders, managers, and colleagues.

Useful and Practical
As a leadership coach, I have successfully used this book with clients at all levels of an organization.This book has been extremely helpful with clients who saw politics as "slimy" to help them look at political savvy as something that can be exercised with integrity.
How political are you, really?
I have historically been a person who has shunned the idea of political savvy. In the first place, being "political" meant being shady or underhanded. Add "savvy" to the equation, and you have a loud underhanded jerk in an Armani suit.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business ethics    3. Career/Job    4. Careers - General    5. Careers / Job Opportunities    6. Corporate culture    7. Integrity    8. Management - General    9. Motivational    10. Office politics    11. Organizational behavior    12. Business & Economics / General    13. Business communication & presentation    14. Economics, Finance, Business and Industry   

Reviews (1)

Appreciative Team Building : Positive Questions to Bring Out the Best of Your Team (Paperback)
The book was fabulous!I found it really helpful - it is conceptually right on and it is a great and useful tool - Bottom line it fires up both sides of my brain!
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business/Economics    5. Leadership    6. Organizational Behavior    7. Business & Economics / Business Communication    8. Business communication & presentation    9. Management & management techniques