Books

Business Communication Today (8th Edition)

Average customer rating:

What a waste of paper!
How Did This Book Make It To The 8th Edition?
Business Communication Today
Great for reference
Buisness Communication today

Business Communication Today (8th Edition)
Courtland L. Bovee , and John Thill
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131478451

Book Description

A book that addresses the need for skills-building in today’s competitive business environment, Business Communication Today has been completely revised and reworked to provide the most cutting-edge information available on the market. Combining a solid foundation of communication fundamentals with practical advice and insights, readers will be effectively prepared for the challenges they’ll face when entering the job market. Thorough coverage and thoughtful integration of business communication technology sets this book apart from the competition. Every essential technology is covered, successfully demonstrating the importance of business etiquette, teamwork, proper short communication (memos, email, instant messaging, etc.), and effective business reports and proposals. An especially useful tool for those entering the job market, this book is also a must-read for corporate trainers, office managers, and others that need to utilize effective communications on a day-to-day basis.

Customer Reviews:

What a waste of paper!.......2007-02-11

Reviewer John Zabroski hits on some great points and I have a few more to add.
The book definitely contains some useful information. This is why I give it two stars. Still, the amount of fluff, bloat and redundancy is incredible. It is painful to read through page after page where information is repeated.

For concepts that would need a one inch paragraph for their explanation, the authors occupy a page. The nature of business communication is to be short and to the point. The authors completely fail to convey this essential feature. This book should have comprised of 200 pages maximum, not counting the appendices. Instead it turned into an almost 600 page monstrosity. In my opinion the price of paper is too low. This is why there is so much of it wasted.

In some instances, things can turn outright ridiculous. For example, look at page 269. In the fifth line of the first paragraph the authors list objectivity as a trait of credibility. Then they encourage the reader to exceed this by "Being Objective" (the sixth bullet below the paragraph). Give me a break!

How Did This Book Make It To The 8th Edition?.......2006-02-13

If you are a college professor or instructor, please do not use this book. A far more accessible and technically correct book for your students would be Dale Carnegie's The Leader In You (How To Win Friends and Influence People). While Carnegie's book does not have "reading exercises" like a traditional textbook might, your students will get far more out of reading his book than Bovee's.

I am a senior in college and my Communication for Business Professionals course is using this textbook as the primary learning resource. I feel this book was a waste of my money due to the number of content faults in the 8th Edition. I have not reviewed nor read previous editions.

A major gripe I have with this book is incorrect statements, a polite way of saying the author did not fact-check and proof-read their work. Again, this book is in its 8th Edition and the current layout of this book is discouraging considering the book is supposed to be about communication. I accumulated a list of content faults regarding this book, and will try to share some of them with you to help dissaude you from wasting your money on this book:

(1) Indirectly referring to the United States as a high-context culture, stating that high-context cultures prefer very strict schedules. A few pages earlier, the book contradicts this statement by directly detailing how the United States is a low-context culture.

(2) The book constantly mixes up its point-of-view on what the best way to approach others is. Earlier on, it suggests its important to consider your own feelings first. A few chapters later, it scalds you for putting yourself before others and on several occasions reminds you that "earlier" in the text it referred to how important talking in terms of others desires is. What is the better way? Well, having read Dale Carnegie's book on leadership, I can tell you the best approach is always to "bait the hook to suit the fish" as Carnegie would say. In other words, address your audiences needs before you take into account your own feelings.

Overall, the book tries to be all-encompassing and fails. To cover communication in detail, you cannot be general and all-encompassing. You have to be specific and follow a model for communication.

This book also does not appropriately address large issues in communication, such as PERCEPTION. In business, perception is everything and can lead to you trying to negotiate too hard and costing your company dollars. There is a famous anecdote of Japanese and American businessman sitting across the table from one another negotiating a business deal. After the American finishes discussing his business proposal, he is unnerved by the silence of the Japanese negotiators to the point where he believes something is wrong. The end result, and conclusion of this anecdote, is the American perceived the need to devoid the silence by talking more. In the process, the American lowered his demands and the Japanese negotiators then agreed once the American backed himself into a corner.

Business Communication Today.......2005-10-04

I really liked the book. I got it pretty fast and with no problems.

Great for reference.......2004-05-20

Although I owned the 6th edition, I can say this book is a must have for everyone. Actually I was a silent person and everytime I wanted to talk, I was a bit trouble sometimes, and this book has help me communicating easier, whether it is business or general.

With this book, started with easy to understand short-theory, move into non-verbal communications, divided by step-by-step preparations, suggestions, how-to-practice, then into verbal communications with letters, from routine & persuasive messages into how to deliver bad news (one of the hardest task), how to create report, how to make visual aids, how to make presentations, and how to make a job letter.

One of greatest feature is it provides many sample letters include few other culture or other countries' style letters, and along with it, there's a reason why he or she write that. There's also some tips how to write in e-mail, or make recorded voice for telephone systems.

This is a must have for everyone, include those who never attended this lecture.

Buisness Communication today.......2001-08-25

This is a fantastic book. It can be used for reference at home and at work. It helped me fine tune my job resume and also helps in communications between companies at work. Keep this book, you never know when you need a letter format or an outline for some other form of written communication.

Your Attention Please: How to Appeal to Today's Distracted, Disinterested, Disengaged, Disenchanted, and Busy Consumer

Average customer rating:

How to design your message
Marketing in 21st Century
After Reading This Book, You'll Never Have to Say "... I could have done that better..."
Very good info
A very helpful book about being a better communicator.

Your Attention Please: How to Appeal to Today's Distracted, Disinterested, Disengaged, Disenchanted, and Busy Consumer
Paul B. Brown , and Alison Davis
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593376871

Book Description

Maybe you're in sales...or marketing...or communications? Maybe you're a writer. Maybe you're even a CEO. Whatever your title, you're one of the hundreds of thousands of professionals who communicate for a living-and you're struggling to get your message heard in a noisy and crowded marketplace.
Yes, you know what you want to say and who you want to reach. No, you don't have writer's block and you certainly know how to construct a sentence. So what's the problem?
The audience you're writing for is going, going, gone... Today's consumer doesn't want to read anymore-they're already overwhelmed by overflowing e-mail, millions of Web pages, and 24/7 news proliferation.
Your Attention, Please. is the new strategy guide for communicating to the reluctant consumer. It shows you who the new audience is, how to reach them, and how you must communicate differently-or risk losing mindshare and marketshare.

Customer Reviews:

How to design your message.......2007-03-24

If you're like me, you've been writing for a good long time and it's something you can handle with ease. But guess what? People don't read! Why? If Sleepless in Seattle were re-written today, the "You've got mail" voice would say "You've got more mail than you can hope to read. Ever."

Even if your message is GOOD, even if your message is IMPORTANT, even if your message is WELL WRITTEN, it's no guarantee it will even be read, much less remembered.

So, _Your Attention Please_ introduces you to "the high concept" and other techniques you can employ to create a well-crafted message (email, blog, report, presentation). There's nothing _really_ ground-breaking in terms of writing techniques in this book--focus on your audience, develop a clear message, keep it short--but it's *how* the book covers the topic that makes it so good. It walks its own talk: examples, visuals, sidebars, and anecdotes keep you flipping. I have an outlined summary of the book that I keep on my computer desktop and scan before sending out any important emails or creating presentations and trainings. Actually, to improve one more on the book, I would include a quick-reference card for those of us who want to practice the message without having to crack the book again.

And now the bad news. Did you hear the one about the writer who handed in her 600-page novel to her publisher, saying, "I was going to write a short story, but I didn't have the time"? _Designing_ a message takes a lot more effort than just writing one, which is probably why there are so many awful emails out there. Just try it once: take an idea you have and see if you can "high concept" it. You have to work harder than if you just started blathering on. So you can read the book, but you still have to wax-on and wax-off before you can be the karate kid.

One last note: I would give this book 5 stars, except that it had peppered throughout a number of anecdotes that didn't really support the point being made, and since the book was otherwise so tightly designed, they felt like pebbles in my shoe. For example, to illustrate a point about reading levels, they tell a good story about an online reading comprehension test. Great! But then they follow that with a story about visiting a website that can translate your writing into pig latin, jive, valley girl, and swedish chef. Ok, fun, but not at all relevant to the point about reading levels.

Marketing in 21st Century.......2007-01-15

Quite simply, the most comprehensive look at the new procedures for trying to talk to prospective clients that I've read in the last couple of years. I bought 3 to hand out to past and hopefully future clients.
It's practical and short and to the point, emulating what the book tells us to do.

After Reading This Book, You'll Never Have to Say "... I could have done that better..." .......2006-11-17

A very intuitive yet refreshingly nuts and bolts book that cuts across all communication dynamics. As a professional (not in sales or marketing), I did not expect the book to be anything other than tangentially or anecdotally relevant. Boy was I wrong. As I read the book I began to envision myself effortlessly utilizing the insights, advice and techniques literally packed throughout the book in all sorts of everyday situations from new and existing client contacts to "simple" colleague communications. I even see scenarios where the techniques will come in quite handy in more...stressful situations.

The book gingerly moves from lesson to hand-on examples that anyone can identify with, and is rich with (short) stories that lead you into the wilderness and out the other side, better-off for the experience. I recommend the book to anyone who has ever looked back on any communication opportunity of any nature, and thought "... I could have done that better..."

Very good info.......2006-11-10

Subtitled: How to appear to today's distracted, disinterested, disengaged, disenchanted and busy audience.

(Good resource for writers or business people)

As someone who writes business content for brochures, web sits, etc., this book had a ton of good information. Usually I don't write in books, however this one is splattered full of "good," or "keep."

These following facts will tell you why you need to write differently for today's audience:

-- 4.3% of adult population has ADHD-that's 8 million Americans
-- People will throw out more than 50% of the paper mail without any more than a quick glance--or pile it to "read later"
-- People will delete email without reading them, even those they need to have read in office emails (not just spam)
-- 84% of adults read magazines regularly while 50% read novels. 7,000 magazines are published in North America and 480 new magazines were introduced in 2004.
-- Professionals spend 53% of their time seeking information (5.4 billion hours a year)
-- The average TV viewer changes channels 8,000 a week
-- We retain 10% of what we hear, but 50% if visuals are included (pictures, graphics, type variations)
-- The Gettysburg Address (one of the greatest speeches in history) was only 272 words long
-- Average story in USA Today (introduced in 1982) is 300 words long.

Why all these facts? To show that our audience today, especially if you need to reach people younger than 35, wants to be communicated with differently.

The authors said that writing for the (recommended) reading level (7-8th grade) is not because our audience is illiterate but because they are busy, distracted, and reluctant to read complicated prose.

You can go to [...] to take a free reading test based on the state standards for competency in reading and math. (The book tells what happened when the author did that!)

Simple, short, friendly tone, one-to-one conversational approach. Watch your voice/personality. Get over yourself and your ego and write for your audience.

Brevity: People have so little time to absorb information that everything is getting shorter (except this review).

Armchair Interviews says: Anyone who writes for business should read this book to remember what you know--and to learn something new.

A very helpful book about being a better communicator........2006-11-05

When I initially picked up the book I thought it was going to be about how you can keep a person's attention around a product or service. A marketing book of some sort. To my surprise it ended up being much more than just that. The book provided tips about how to write stories, articles and communication that will keep your audience engaged. This is the book I have been looking for. I found it on a little book store on my vacation and I will recommend it to everyone I know.

A couple of things I learned in one day:

1. The audience is busy. Less than 600 words for short articles. 1200 words for long articles. This will make your writing more accessible to busy readers.

2. Write about stuff they want to read. It's about me and my time is limited. Too often we choose subjects that we ourselves find interesting but the reader just doesn't care.

3. Titles of articles should promise and benefit the audience. For Example - How to, Be a better, You can, Learn ways, Become a, Deliver on, Make more, Get more...

4. Be the audience. Try not to tell us things we already know or understand. Write about things we want to know. If you love the topic it will show through and your audience will be engaged.

5. Create high concepts when writing the excerpts. Titles should be no longer than six words. Excerpts should be no longer than 10-15 words. High concepts summarize the article and let's the reader decide if they need to invest the time.

6. Draw mental pictures of what you are writing about so the audience can visualize it. Illustrate the problem and communicate that by continuing to read this they will have the solution they seek.

This is only the surface. Buy this book you won't be disappointed.

How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace

Average customer rating:

How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace
"Sonya has done it again!!
Great Tips -- Easy to Read
How Tto Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace
Great guide for workplace - regardless of your rank

How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace
Sonya Hamlin
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 006073406X
Release Date: 2005-12-27

Book Description

Our super-speed, electronically driven workplace has begun eroding our ability to talk and, what's more, to listen. Yet we must all keep presenting ourselves and our ideas verbally, in person, to make that final sale or get ahead. That means you need new verbal and visual approaches to everything from giving a presentation, handling a client, making an impact at a meeting, or just selling yourself.

Sonya Hamlin is one of the country's leading communication experts. She tackles the new issues in the workplace, rewriting her previous best-selling How to Talk So People Listen to provide a host of new techniques for getting what you want at work today. She covers all your workplace communication needs to discover and return to every time you have to present yourself or your ideas.

This book is written for everyone, from the entry-level employee to the executive. Hamlin delivers groundbreaking insights and solutions to some of today's major communication issues at work: negotiating the generation gaps, integrating a multicultural workforce, organizing your message and making it visual, and understanding what motivates today's audiences. She provides unique, innovative tools in an informal, practical style. This is an invaluable resource for achieving one's goals through skillful, compelling communication techniques.

Customer Reviews:

How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace.......2006-01-31

Sonya's book does an excellent job of identifying the different communication styles and strategies between Generation X and Y and baby boomers, all of whom are working together in today's diverse organizations. Yet the fundamental message is about the importance of face-to-face interactions and "How to Talk So People Listen" details simply and clearly the essentials of effective communication whether talking one-to-one or presenting to a room full of people. The book underscores the importance of listening and provides an outstanding section on leading successful meetings. "How to Talk So People Listen" is a practical guide for thinking strategically about a range of communication interactions. This book is a tremendous reference for anyone who values the art and skill of effective communications.

"Sonya has done it again!!.......2006-01-28

"Sonya has done it again!! Sonya Hamlin, the communicator's communicator, tells everyone what she has long taught the pros. Written in clear format and style that itself makes her point, Sonya Hamlin talks to us. As we read, we smile, we scribble notes, and, boy, do we learn, even those who thought they already knew. Insightful, wise, intensely practical, unfailingly on target and a joy to read. Bravo! A must read for anyone who works and must therefore talk."
-Heidi Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Treasury and Securities Services JP MorganChase

Great Tips -- Easy to Read.......2006-01-27

"What I especially enjoyed is that this book has something for everyone. Baby boomers, Generation X'ers and Millennials will learn how best to communicate with their own and different generations. Organized individuals will appreciate the clear structure that includes tools for planning ahead, while those that prefer spontaneous conversation will be better equipped to navigate through uncharted waters. There are great tips for how to improve everything from one on one conversation to large presentations in a friendly or hostile environment. My daughter is taking a course in managerial communication at college and I would love for her professor to see and use this book. We all can become better communicators by reading How To Talk So People Listen.

How Tto Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today's Workplace.......2006-01-26

"Between the covers of this book, Sonya Hamlin has covered everything a person needs to know about how to communicate effectively in our electronic age. Whether you're at entry level, in middle management, an entrepreneur, starting your own business, or a senior executive in a Fortune 100 boardroom, Sonya's comprehensive analysis of how we understand one another will prove indespensible to anyone who wants to get ahead."
Marcy Syms, CEO, SYMS Corp

Great guide for workplace - regardless of your rank.......2006-01-26

Wow-what a guide! How much more effective an employee, coworker, and supervisor I would have been in the past years had I had this manual at my side. The conversational delivery is so comfortable, and it helped me discover the places where I have been ineffectual, especially in communication complex issues. Thanks for putting into writing what so many of us need to know to be more effective in the workplace.

Winning Without Intimidation : How to Master the Art of Positive Persuasion in Today's Real World in Order to Get What You Want, When You Want It

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!
a very good book!
Move over, Dale Carnegie!
An Invaluable Tool
Outstanding Book!

Winning Without Intimidation : How to Master the Art of Positive Persuasion in Today's Real World in Order to Get What You Want, When You Want It
Bob Burg , and Bob Berg
Manufacturer: Burg Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1890344117

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......2007-02-15

I would highly recommend this book and his "Endless Referrals" book to anyone who owns a business or is in sales. I was new to Chamber of Commerce and networking meetings, and Bob's books allowed me to step in and have at least a five-fold better impact from those meetings. Quickly become an influencer in your city! Bob Burg's books can help you gain a competitive edge and be more profitable.

a very good book!.......2005-04-18

i found this book to be an excelent tool for anysituation you`l incounter in life. most subjects discussed in this book, are simple and common sence, but no one does it untill they read this book and realise those things... my recomendation: a definite must buy for anyone

Move over, Dale Carnegie!.......2005-03-18

Great ideas! If Dale Carnegie were still around I would think he'd be saying "I wish that `How to Win Friends and Influence People' was as comprehensive and useful as Bob Burg's ideas".
This book could be called "Human Relations 101". Filled with great, specific ideas on how to handle everything from tactfully turning down an invitation to politely getting off a call from a fund raiser to negotiating a better price.

An Invaluable Tool.......2005-03-06

As a personal trainer and stress management coach, knowing how to communicate with others positively is a must for me! I first came across Bob Burg in early 2004, when I signed up to his free newsletter. I was highly impressed by the quality of his articles, and wanted to try his book. I wasn't disappointed.

In effect, "Winning without Intimidation" is an information-packed course in how to 'positively persuade' people. Positive persuasion is the art of communicating what you want from someone, in such a way that they're most likely to want to do it. It could be described as the art of interacting with other people so that you both win, and so that neither person feels manipulated, frustrated, or unable to get what they want from the situation.

Bob spends a short section at the beginning of the book quickly outlining the theory behind his practice - most of which can be summed up in the idea that 'people do things for their own reasons, not for yours, and that they're not always consciously aware of why they do it'. The key to persuading them to do something for you then becomes effectively communicating how helping you fulfils their needs.

The rest of the book is spent giving practical example after practical example of how you can put this into practice. Bob covers the complex reasons most of us have for doing the things we do, how we can communicate with others in ways that respect those reasons, and then offers a wealth of suggestions for handling specific situations that cause all of us stress when we have to deal with them.

This book won't *always* get you what you want. The techniques Bob outlines won't help in getting someone to do something that's genuinely against their own interests (of course, if that's your goal, you're not looking for positive persuasion techniques - you're looking for manipulation). And sometimes, people are so stuck in their perceptions that even though you can clearly see how they'd benefit from helping you, they can't see it as anything but losing to you. Bob has some helpful suggestions for times like these too, but in the real world, nothing is 100% foolproof.

For the vast majority of times, however, positive persuasion works. If you've ever felt stressed because of things other people did, if there are people you find yourself wanting to avoid because of the way you feel when you have to talk to them, or if you'd just like to pick up some practical pointers on communicating with people more effectively, "Winning without Intimidation" will be an invaluable tool for you.

Tanja Gardner, March 2005
http://optimumlife.co.nz

Outstanding Book!.......2004-08-06

Bob's book helped me improve my people skills. In this book Bob outlines in clear terms what it takes to be a person that wins without intimidation. The book really lives up to it's name.

To be successful, you will need to have other people help you along the way, Many times you will need to motivate people to do things for you. Bob shows you how to get things done without intimating others, rather by empowering them to help you. He is a master at human relationships and he shares with you personal stories of how he won people over without intimidating them, but rather out to seeing their perspective and showing them what they stand to gain by helping him.

I highly recommend you read this book and apply its principles into your everyday life ASAP!

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works

Business Etiquette in Brief: The Competitive Edge for Today's Professional

Average customer rating:

Short, concise, useful introduction to a neglected subject
Better books elsewhere

Business Etiquette in Brief: The Competitive Edge for Today's Professional
Ann Marie Sabath
Manufacturer: Bob Adams Inc. Publishers
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558502548

Customer Reviews:

Short, concise, useful introduction to a neglected subject.......2005-01-20

I bought this book a long time ago early in my career when I was first exposed to affluent business trips and executive-level meetings. Coming from a very middle-class background, I did not grow up with the training and experience that many upper-class people get by virtue of their lifestyles. I had no clue about table manners, tipping, and courtesies with high-level executives.

Ms. Sabath may not be the final word on business etiquette, but her advice has worked well for me over the years. This book is short and sweet, and you can reread it on the airplane to ensure that you make a good impression at that important social or business occasion. I am a happy customer.

Better books elsewhere.......2002-12-27

Useful tidbits here and there, but the advice is sometimes questionable and occasionally misleading. The most serious flaw is that she fails to describe the range of accepted etiquette and then explain which guidelines she prefers and why. Instead, she presents only her opinion, providing only one option from a range of possibilities.

She also has an annoying tendency to depart from etiquette (guidelines for dress and behavior) and into management (advice for interacting with peers and subordinates). Given her limited experience in management, the quality of her advice on conflict management and project management is quite low. It would have been much more useful had she elaborated on acceptable etiquette and differing opinions on acceptable etiquette and cut her weak advice on management.

Book Description

Machine Transcription 4e by Mitchell teaches the skills of machine transcription as it reinforces language arts skills. Students learn simple-to-complex dictation from a variety of voices - just like those found in real offices. The program can be used with word processing software or with electronic or electric typewriters, and it is available in both short course (6- or 9-week courses) and complete course (12-, 14-, or 16-week courses) formats. Instructor Manuals and Solutions Disks are available for both courses.

Instant-Answer Guide to Business Writing: An A-Z Source for Today's Business Writer

Average customer rating:

A useful business tool
Excellent Resource

Instant-Answer Guide to Business Writing: An A-Z Source for Today's Business Writer
Deborah Dumaine
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595267300

Book Description

Fast, accurate answers to all your business writing questions will be at your fingertips when you put this handy, carry-it-anywhere reference to work for you. Packed with practical guidance and real-world examples, it helps you

· write better business documents in half the time
· design winning proposals
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· create presentations and reports that achieve results
· use visuals to maximum effect
· choose from many sample documents for inspiration
· write with greater clarity and impact
· avoid redundancy, stiff phrasing, and “bureaucratic” writing
· make every word count
· handle complex technical topics with ease
· learn the fine art of sending bad news
· organize formal documents for impact
· choose the best formatting techniques
· avoid embarrassing mistakes in grammar and usage.

Customer Reviews:

A useful business tool.......2004-02-25

I should start by declaring an interest here - I have attended workshops at Better Communications, the company whose founder wrote this book, and have a friend who works for the company. I think I can say, though, that that has not swayed my judgment on the book (and no money or other favors have changed hands for this review...).

The Instant-Answer Guide to Business Writing, subtitled "An A-Z Source for Today's Business Writer", is a remarkable compendium of contemporary English. Although it contains many of the elements of Fowler's Modern English Usage, it also does a lot that is different. One reason for that is that it was written by Deborah Dumaine, the founder of Better Communications, a company that offers workshops on writing for the corporate world.

This is reflected in the book's opening section, which gives an introduction to the company's "Reader-Centered Writing" technique. References throughout take you back to this method, whose goal is to enable people to compose compelling business documents.

The book, however, is largely self-standing as a guide to writing English in the modern business world, arranged alphabetically by topic. It covers the basics of grammar and syntax, as well as the more strategic issues of writing well for one's reader.

At the most basic level of punctuation, the book sets out clear rules on where to put that apostrophe (and on whether you should be using one at all); guides you on how to write dates; and suggests where to use a dash rather than a colon. At the level of grammar, there are sections on how to ensure that you are consistent in your use of singulars and plurals; on "that" and "which" in different kinds of modifying clause; and on the avoidance of the "dangling" participle.

On the broader issue of communicating effectively, there are many entries on writing clearly and concisely, and on presenting your words visually in a way that draws in the reader.

Throughout the book, there are frequent examples of the right and wrong ways of doing something, and there is a substantial (and useful) appendix of model documents. The index works well; it enabled me to find almost everything I was looking for.

The book keeps pace with the times. There is an entry on "sexist language: how to avoid it" and a long one on "e-mail: how to write a compelling message". If the more abstruse grammatical entries might seem pedantic to some readers, there are a good many which have obvious and immediate relevance to the contemporary workplace.

Process is a big thing in the Reader-Centered Writing world: what steps do you need to take to get to the well-structured, cogent piece? This finds expression in the introduction, in the entries on drafting and editing, and in the long section on writing as a team.

The book does not stop at language as narrowly defined, but includes pieces on charts and graphs, on the use of color in documents, and on presentations. The last gives an example of one of Better Communications' Focus Sheets, a means of ensuring that what is written conveys the writer's purpose and meets the needs of the reader.

Better Communications' workshops are as much about getting business done effectively as they are about the language that acts as the medium. So the book has sections on broader business issues, seen through the prism of language.

Some may find this mixing of entries on language and business disconcerting. That, however, is the message of the book. Organized writing is the key to being organized and effective in business. The link is not an accident: the processes of thought, the expression of that thought and its execution in the workplace can't be separated. If someone writes well by the Better Communications standard, they start off with a distinct advantage in the corporate environment over someone who does not.

Others may think that the many sections devoted to the minutiae of grammar are unnecessarily picky, bordering on the pedantic, and not really relevant to the fast pace at which the modern world works. That may be true to a degree, but another message of the book is that detail is important, both to conveying one's precise meaning and to giving the right impression to business colleagues and customers.

While the book is nothing if not thorough and meticulous, it is not pompous or patronizing. Neither is it objectionably prescriptive: it acknowledges that language evolves and that there can different ways of doing things; but there are limits and where something is simply wrong the author says so. No sloppiness in this classroom...

Who is the book for? Certainly for people who are fascinated by language - they will take immense pleasure in dipping into the entries. However literate they think they are, they will find something they did not know before, whether they agree with it or not.

Should every executive have one on his or her (or should it be "their"?) bookshelf? Yes, if they are at all concerned about the quality of their writing and see improving it as one of the keys to being more successful in the workplace. The Instant-Answer Guide is an outstanding reference source for pretty much anything to do with written business English.

To make the very most of the book and the method which inspired it, though, they may have to attend one of Better Communications' workshops. But there, I said that I was going to be objective.

Excellent Resource.......2003-08-20

After reading and using this great book I gained the confidence I needed to write more professional business documents and e-mails. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to communicate clearly within the workplace and with clients. Great easy-to-use tips and guidelines made it easy.

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