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The book provides insights on how and when that might be.Overall, reading this book and applying its methods will make you a better communicator, but probably not by much. One is language from the center which:1)Directs rather than responds2)Makes statements3)Contextualizes with authority4)Contradicts, argues, and disagrees5)Practice affect of control.The other type of communication is language from the edge which:1)Respons rather than directs2)asks questions3)contextualizes with strategies4)avoids open argument5)Practices conversational maintenanceTo be an effective communicator, one must know how and when to communicate effectively in either styles. So I recommend this book for its worthwhile content and methods. The first half of the book is more informative than the second half. Most of the second half are fillers.The thesis of this book is that there are two types of communication. But improving your communication even by 5-10% will probably make a difference in your career and life.
This book is geared towards salespeople and corporate executives, if you work for a firm of 20 or less this probably won't help much. But it doesnt take a 200 page book to tell us that the key is to merge the two. Probably great for some but the majority will just be wasting their time with this title. It seems as if authors and publishers have decided to sell something that is marginal at best, just include the words Power,Prestige, wealth all seemingly offering some simple strategy to imporove and empower your life, Power talk fails to live up to its title. It is a ok book on how we talk and what the 2 distinct communication styles are all about. The key to success is adaptation to the enviroment your in rather than discuss key words or stratagies for enhancing vocabulary, structure , etiquitte this book just rehashes the adaptation philosophy.
However, the next two chapters are simply the author's social commentary about not pre-judging people on their differences in communication. The first six chapters are helpful and contain useful information about the use of Language from the Center and from the Edge. The last chapter is just an overview of the study of linguistics.
I do not understand some of the negative reviews of this book. I found it to be a great help. There's a time to stop asking and start "telling."My clients want confident advice from me. Not so. I was an "Edge" person to the extreme. This book made a profound difference in the way I conduct my business. I had always been taught that asking questions and constantly probing was the best and most powerful way to deal with clients and prospects. They don't want to sit around and explore options forever.
The author talks about mixing two forms of language (Edge and Center) to have a perfect communication with the people you work with (employees, employers, boss, etc) and never tells you how to mix these concepts. I really don't think that changing my voice mail will help me succeed in my corporation. and besides, if a certain form of language works for me, center or edge, I really don't see the point on changing the way I speak.I never close a book forever before finishing it but after reading a couple of pages after the middle of the book and realized that I could be reading something else so I decided to stop with the torture.
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