James K. Van Fleet

The title of this book describes it well. If you want to manipulate other people--have power over them--then by all means use this book. It represents all that is wrong with pushy salespeople and thick-headed managers. There are a couple of token pages on "listening" and a reminder not to interrupt people, but it's clear that the only purpose of conversation is to steer other people. Hear what other people are saying only to discover weapons against them. If you genuinely want to use conversation to *communicate*, to better understand people, and to work toward solutions that benefit both partners, this will not be your text; try something more akin to the 7 habits. As a co-op student, I was given this book as a gift upon leaving a corporate environment full of buzzwords and posturing, and I kept the book to remind me not to get entrenched in that sort of place again.… (meer)