Improve Your Business Communication (Collection)

Improve Your Business Communication (Collection)

by Natalie Canavor, Claire Meirowitz, Terry J. Fadem, Jerry Weissman
Released October 2010
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780132617703

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Book description

Get answers, get action! Supercharge your business writing, question asking, presentation delivery, and more!

Three full books of proven solutions for supercharging personal effectiveness by improving the way you communicate! Master 52 proven, bite-size, easy-to-use business writing techniques for improving everything from emails to proposals… discover how to ask better questions, and get better, more actionable answers… learn how to make presentations that win, from the world’s #1 presentation expert!

From world-renowned leaders and experts, including Natalie Canavor, Claire Meirowitz, T. J. Fadem, and Jerry Weissman

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. The Truth About The New Rules of Business Writing
    1. Contents
    2. Foreword: A new way to think about writing
    3. On the Web
    4. Acknowledgments
    5. About the Authors
    6. Introduction
    7. Part I: The truth about what makes writing work
      1. Truth 1. Most people aim for the wrong target
        1. Define good writing yourself
        2. Bad writing: the whole sad story
        3. Good writing: a definition to live by
      2. Truth 2. If you can say it, you can write it
      3. Truth 3. Forget yesterday—write for today
      4. Truth 4. Planning is the magic ingredient
      5. Truth 5. To achieve your goal, look below its surface
      6. Truth 6. Cut to the chase: Put the bottom line on top
      7. Truth 7. “Me”-focused messages fail
      8. Truth 8. People are not the same: Write for differences
      9. Truth 9. Tone makes—or breaks—your message
      10. Truth 10. Knowing your inside story is the key
      11. Truth 11. Forget outlines—organize your thinking
        1. Writing helps you think
      12. Truth 12. How to organize is a personal choice
      13. Truth 13. Every message you send has a psychological impact
        1. Guidelines for delivering bad news
      14. Truth 14. Effective messages lead with strength
      15. Truth 15. To succeed, cover your ground and remember “the ask”
      16. Truth 16. Your goal and audience determine the best way to communicate
    8. Part II: The truth about self-editing
      1. Truth 17. The best writers don’t write; they rewrite
      2. Truth 18. Rhythm and transitions make writing move
        1. Pay attention to transitions
      3. Truth 19. Less can be a whole lot more
        1. Rewrite challenge
      4. Truth 20. Passive thinking and jargon undermine clarity
      5. Truth 21. You don’t need grammar drills to spot your writing problems
        1. Use your computer’s Readability Index
    9. Part III: The truth about successful e-mail
      1. Truth 22. Use e-mail to communicate in the fast lane—powerfully
        1. Review your e-mails—every one
      2. Truth 23. Good subject lines say, “open sesame”
      3. Truth 24. Know your e-mail do’s and don’ts
        1. E-mail don’ts
      4. Truth 25. Writing good progress reports is worth your time
    10. Part IV: The truth about letters
      1. Truth 26. Letters: They live! And you need them
      2. Truth 27. Letters build relationships
      3. Truth 28. Cover letters matter, big time
    11. Part V: The truth about reports and proposals
      1. Truth 29. Good reports generate action
        1. Writing the lead—some options:
      2. Truth 30. Organizing complex projects isn’t that hard
      3. Truth 31. Well-crafted proposals win
      4. Truth 32. The letter format lets you shortcut proposals
      5. Truth 33. Root grant applications in “mission”—yours and the funder’s
    12. Part VI: The truth about Web sites
      1. Truth 34. Writing is the missing factor in your competitors’ Web sites
      2. Truth 35. Web sites built on keywords and content build traffic
        1. Some more Web site do’s and don’ts
      3. Truth 36. A home page must crystallize who you are
    13. Part VII: The truth about new media
      1. Truth 37. Blogging and social media are powerful business tools
      2. Truth 38. To blog for yourself, be yourself, but carefully
      3. Truth 39. Good business blogging is edgy
        1. Tie blogs to your marketing
      4. Truth 40. Tweeting and texting: the ultimate self-edit challenge
      5. Truth 41. E-letters focus marketing and reinforce branding
      6. Truth 42. Good PowerPoint is more than pretty faces: It starts with writing
    14. Part VIII: The truth about writing to self-market
      1. Truth 43. Strong résumés focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities
      2. Truth 44. Fliers are easy all-purpose promotional tools
      3. Truth 45. It pays to think PR and send news releases
        1. Plan the release
      4. Truth 46. Writing articles boosts your career
      5. Truth 47. The virtual world offers self-publishing power
        1. Get to the point
        2. Can you write a book?
    15. Part IX: The truth about tricks of the trade
      1. Truth 48. Good headlines help your writing work—a lot
      2. Truth 49. Skillful interviewing is a major (but unrecognized) business asset
      3. Truth 50. Readers are global: Try not to confuse them
      4. Truth 51. Clarity is next to godliness
      5. Truth 52. You can fix your own grammar goofs
      6. Financial Times Press
      7. Simply the best thinking The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
  4. The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Disclaimer
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. About the Author
    5. Preface: Corporate Inquisitions
    6. The Not-So-Grand Inquisitor
    7. Introduction: Questioning Is the Skill of Management
      1. 1 Is There a Basic Set of Management Questions?
      2. 2 Asking Questions Is the Skill of Effective Management
      3. 3 How Good Are Your Skills?
      4. 4 You Ask Too Many Questions
    8. Common Errors: How to Recognize and Correct Them
      1. 5 What Are the Common Errors?
      2. 6 Do You Have Habit Questions?
      3. 7 Does Your Question Lack Context?
      4. 8 Do You Put the Answer in the Question?
      5. 9 Positioning: “Just a Country Lawyer...”
      6. 10 Posturing: When the Questioner Suddenly Becomes Larger
      7. 11 A “Casual” Question?
      8. 12 Do You Speak “Jargonese”?
      9. 13 Avoidance: If I Close My Eyes, Will the Elephant in the Room Disappear?
      10. 14 No Question: Managing by “Wall”
    9. Neglected Questions
      1. 15 If I Ask a Foolish Question, I’ll Look Foolish
      2. 16 Unasked Questions: If You Already Know the Answer, It Is Unnecessary to Ask the Question
      3. 17 Someone Else (of Higher Authority or Greater Experience) Will Ask
      4. 18 Saved Questions: I Will Save My Question for Another More Appropriate Time
      5. 19 My Question Will Make Waves and Making Waves Is Bad
      6. 20 Normalization of a Defect
    10. Misuses of Management Skills: Inquisitions Are Not the Only Abuse of Questioning
      1. 21 Errors and the Misuse of Management Skills
      2. 22 Is Your Question an Abuse of Power?
      3. 23 Are There Questions That Should Not Be Asked?
    11. Questioning: Improve Your Skills
      1. 24 What Are the Attributes of a Person Who Asks Good Questions?
      2. 25 Are You Prepared to Ask?
      3. 26 What’s the Purpose of Your Question?
      4. 27 Words: Are Some Words More Important Than Others?
      5. 28 What Are the “Right” Questions?
      6. 29 Is Everything We Ask Important?
      7. 30 The Manner of Asking a Question: Style
      8. 31 What Was That You Said?
      9. 32 Can You Use a Raised Voice?
      10. 33 What Is Your Personal Style for Asking Questions?
      11. 34 Who Is Asking the Question?
      12. 35 Who Are You as a Manager?
    12. Signs and Signals
      1. 36 Hand Gestures and Other Physical Signals
      2. 37 Eye Contact
      3. 38 Demeanor, Body Language, and Facial Expressions
    13. Types of Questions
      1. 39 Direct Questions
      2. 40 Indirect Questions
      3. 41 Open Questions
      4. 42 Closed Questions
      5. 43 Stupid Questions
      6. 44 Filtering Questions
      7. 45 Double-Direct Questions
      8. 46 Hypothetical Questions (If, What If, Suppose)
      9. 47 Provocative Questions
      10. 48 Rhetorical Questions
      11. 49 Reflective Questions
      12. 50 Leading Questions
      13. 51 The Pause as a Question
      14. 52 Silent Questions
      15. 53 One-Word Questions
      16. 54 Clarifying Questions
      17. 55 Divergent Questions
      18. 56 Convergent Questions
      19. 57 Redirecting Questions
      20. 58 Negative Questions
      21. 59 Either/Or Questions
      22. 60 Loaded Questions
      23. 61 Trick Questions
      24. 62 Dual-Answer Closed Questions
      25. 63 General Reference Questions to Keep Handy
    14. Use of Skills
      1. 64 Do You Have a Plan?
      2. 65 Follow-Ups and Probes
      3. 66 Follow-Up Questions
      4. 67 Probing Strategies
      5. 68 Does the Manager Need to Control the Conversation?
      6. 69 Strategies for Asking Tough Questions
      7. 70 Mounting Challenges
      8. 71 Eliciting Dissent
      9. 72 Are You Prepared for Any Answer? What About a Surprise?
      10. 73 The Use of Leading Questions
      11. 74 Looking for Reasons
      12. 75 Are You Asking for an Opinion?
      13. 76 How Do You Evaluate New Ideas?
      14. 77 Looking for Trouble?
      15. 78 Strategies for the Setting
      16. 79 Are You Prepared for Answers?
      17. 80 Are You Prepared for Nonanswers?
      18. 81 Have You Asked About the Fatal Flaw?
    15. Listening
      1. 82 Listening: The “Hearing Phenomenon”
      2. 83 What Are You Listening For?
      3. 84 Avoiding Listening Errors
    16. Conclusions
      1. 85. Is Socrates to Blame?
      2. 86 Conclusions and Final Recommendations
    17. Epilogue
      1. Are You Still Here?
    18. Definitions
    19. References
    20. Questioning as a Spectator Sport: Where to Go to Watch and Learn the Game
    21. Endnotes
    22. Financial Times Press
  5. Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, Updated and Expanded Edition
    1. Dedication
    2. Contents
    3. Praise for the First Edition of Presenting to Win
    4. Foreword to the Updated and Expanded Edition
    5. Preface
      1. What’s Past Is Prologue
    6. Introduction
      1. The Wizard of Aaahs
      2. The Mission-Critical Presentation
      3. The Art of Telling Your Story
      4. A New Approach to Presentations
      5. The Psychological Sell
    7. Chapter One. You and Your Audience
      1. The Problem with Presentations
      2. The Power Presentation
      3. Persuasion: Getting from Point A to Point B
      4. Audience Advocacy
      5. Getting Aha!s
    8. Chapter Two. The Power of the WIIFY
      1. What’s In It For You?
      2. WIIFY Triggers
      3. The Danger of the Incorrect “You”
    9. Chapter Three. Getting Creative: The Expansive Art of Brainstorming
      1. The Data Dump
      2. Managing the Brainstorm: The Framework Form
      3. Brainstorming: Doing the Data Dump Productively
      4. Focus Before Flow
    10. Chapter Four. Finding Your Flow
      1. The 16 Flow Structures
      2. Which Flow Structure Should You Choose?
      3. Guidelines for Selecting a Flow Structure
      4. The Value of Flow Structures
      5. The Four Critical Questions
    11. Chapter Five. Capturing Your Audience Immediately
      1. Seven Classic Opening Gambits
      2. Compound Opening Gambits
      3. Linking to Point B
      4. Tell ’em What You’re Gonna Tell ’em
      5. 90 Seconds to Launch
      6. Winning Over the Toughest Crowd
    12. Chapter Six. Communicating Visually
      1. The Proper Role of Graphics
      2. Presenter Focus
      3. Less Is More
      4. Perception Psychology
      5. Graphic Design Elements
    13. Chapter Seven. Making the Text Talk
      1. Bullets Versus Sentences
      2. Wordwrap
      3. Crafting the Effective Bullet Slide
      4. Minimize Eye Sweeps with Parallelism
      5. Using the Build
      6. Bullet Levels
      7. Verbal Style
      8. Visual Style
      9. Text Guidelines
    14. Chapter Eight. Making the Numbers Sing
      1. The Power of Numeric Graphics
      2. Bar Charts
      3. Pie Charts
      4. Typography in Numeric Graphics
      5. The Hockey Stick
      6. Subtle? Yes, But . . .
    15. Chapter Nine. Using Graphics to Help Your Story Flow
      1. The 35,000-Foot Overview
      2. Graphic Continuity Techniques
      3. Presenter Focus Revisited
      4. Graphics and the 35,000-Foot View
    16. Chapter Ten. Bringing Your Story to Life
      1. Verbalization: The Special Technique
      2. Spaced Learning
      3. Internal Linkages
      4. Internal Linkages in Action
      5. Verbiage
      6. Summary
    17. Chapter Eleven. Customizing Your Presentation
      1. The Power of Customization
      2. The Illusion of the First Time
      3. External Linkages
      4. Gathering Material for Customization
      5. External Linkages in Action
    18. Chapter Twelve. Animating Your Graphics
      1. How Versus Why and Wherefore
      2. Perception Psychology
      3. Cinematic Techniques
      4. Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 and 2007
      5. Animation Options
      6. Animation and the Presenter
    19. Chapter Thirteen. The Virtual Presentation
      1. Anytime, Anyplace, Anyone
      2. How the Virtual Presentation Works
      3. Preparing for Your Virtual Presentation
      4. Connecting with Your Invisible Audience
      5. Creating a Winning Virtual Presentation
      6. The Future of the Virtual Presentation
    20. Chapter Fourteen. Pitching in the Majors
      1. End with the Beginning in Mind
      2. It All Starts with Your Story
      3. Practice, Practice, Practice
      4. Every Audience, Every Time
    21. Appendix A. Tools of the Trade
      1. The Presentation Environment
    22. Appendix B. Presentation Checklists
      1. The Four Critical Questions
      2. WIIFY Triggers
      3. Seven Classic Opening Gambits
      4. Sixteen Flow Structures
      5. Twelve Internal Linkages
      6. Seven External Linkages
      7. Five Graphic Continuity Techniques
    23. Acknowledgments
    24. About the Author
    25. Financial Times Press
    26. Index
  6. The Personal Credibility Factor: How to Get It, Keep It, and Get It Back, (If You’ve Lost It)
    1. Contents
    2. Praise for The Personal Credibility Factor
    3. Application Exercises
    4. Acknowledgments
    5. About the Author
    6. Introduction
      1. I Wouldn’t Trust That Person for a Minute!
      2. What Is the Personal Credibility Factor?
    7. Part I: The Three Secrets to Personal Credibility
      1. Tell Everyone: There Are Actually Three Secrets!
      2. Reading for All It’s Worth...
      3. Chapter One. Secret #1: Forget Power, Position, Status, and Other Such Nonsense
        1. Same Ideas, But Very Different Results
        2. It’s What You Do, Not What You Say
        3. Secret #1 Applies to Other Life Experiences
      4. Chapter Two. Secret #2: I Can See Right Through You
        1. The Human Invisible Fence
        2. Authentic Results, Even During Tough Times
        3. A Final Word of Encouragement
      5. Chapter Three. Secret #3: The Decision to Suspend Judgment
        1. A Frustrating Situation for Dad
        2. The Thought Process for Suspending Judgment
        3. For Personal Credibility: Know the Secrets!
    8. Part II: Stepping Up with Credibility: Seven Steps to Influence Personal Credibility
      1. Understanding Influence and Personal Credibility
      2. Chapter Four. Step #1: Know Your “Stuff”
        1. Learning As She Goes
        2. How Do I Make Sure That I Know My Stuff?
      3. Chapter Five. Step #2: Keep Commitments
        1. Commitments Break Down and Invisible Fences Go Up
        2. Commitment Difference Makers
      4. Chapter Six. Step #3: Honor Confidences and Avoid Gossip
        1. With the Best of Intentions
        2. The Truth Behind the Gossip
      5. Chapter Seven. Step #4: Know Yourself—the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!
        1. She Knew Herself and Understood
        2. Third Time Is the Charm
        3. Section 1: Ideas or Evidence?
        4. Section 2: Direct or Diplomatic?
        5. Section 3: Retreat or Engage?
        6. Section 4: Options or Plans?
      6. Chapter Eight. Step #5: Choose to Value Others—the Good, and Yes, Even the Bad and the Ugly!
        1. Ideas or Evidence?
        2. Direct or Diplomatic?
        3. Retreat or Engage?
        4. Options or Plans?
        5. Some Final Thoughts on Style Differences and Personal Credibility
      7. Chapter Nine. Step #6: Ask More and Listen Most
        1. Tip #1: Stop and Connect
        2. Tip #2: Restate or Paraphrase
        3. Tip #3: Ask, Ask, Ask...
      8. Chapter Ten. Step #7: Create Credible Interactions
        1. Interaction Technique: Maximize Your Agreements
        2. Interaction Technique: Create Productive Disagreements
        3. Interaction Technique: Express Your Thoughts with Credibility
    9. Part III: Face the Truth and Begin Anew
      1. Chapter Eleven. The Truth Shall Set You Free—When You Avoid Truth Traps!
        1. Trap #1: The Little White Lie
        2. Trap #2: The Need to Be “In the Know”
        3. Trap #3: Loose Lips Sink Ships...and Our Credibility
        4. Trap #4: Don’t Worry...It’s Done!
        5. Truth Trap Tips
      2. Chapter Twelve. Credibility: I’ve Lost It—Can I Rebuild It?
        1. Rebuilding Is a Process, Not an Event
        2. A Simple Statement: “You Were Right”
        3. “I Meant Well, but I Blew It!”
        4. From Problems to Progress
      3. Chapter Thirteen. Rebuilding: One Step at a Time
        1. Step 1: Objectively Acknowledge Your Own Actions
        2. Step 2: Identify Your Options for the Next Action
        3. Step 3: Verbally Take Ownership with Those Impacted
        4. Step 4: Manage Your Expectations
        5. Step 5: Share What You Learn from the Rebuilding Process
        6. Starting Over...Every Day
      4. FT Press
      5. Introduction: Questioning Is the Skill of Management
        1. 1. Is There a Basic Set of Management Questions?
        2. 2. Asking Questions Is the Skill of Effective Management
        3. 3. How Good Are Your Skills?
        4. 4. You Ask Too Many Questions
      6. Financial Times Press
      7. Inside Front Cover
      8. Inside Back Cover

Product information

  • Title: Improve Your Business Communication (Collection)
  • Author(s): Natalie Canavor, Claire Meirowitz, Terry J. Fadem, Jerry Weissman
  • Release date: October 2010
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780132617703