Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: I found some of the techniques very useful. I reccommend reading this book with Dr. David Burn's book, "feeling good".
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful and useful book
Review: I was on a curriculum development program on the real world for graduate students and we ended up specifying this book as one of the essential parts of the program. I've since specified other Elgin books as textbooks for graduate students and have never been disappointed.This book does have a second edition which was reviewed positively by _The Alternative_, a dispute resolution publication out of Seton Hall Law School. Extremely accessible (meaning that *real* people can read this book and use it), with insights and information that many professionals do not have. While her best selling book is now a little dated, and is written for a very basic audience (and is a classic in psych circles), this book is written to a more educated audience, without losing its message in jargon or technical language.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful and useful book
Review: I was on a curriculum development program on the real world for graduate students and we ended up specifying this book as one of the essential parts of the program. I've since specified other Elgin books as textbooks for graduate students and have never been disappointed. This book does have a second edition which was reviewed positively by _The Alternative_, a dispute resolution publication out of Seton Hall Law School. Extremely accessible (meaning that *real* people can read this book and use it), with insights and information that many professionals do not have. While her best selling book is now a little dated, and is written for a very basic audience (and is a classic in psych circles), this book is written to a more educated audience, without losing its message in jargon or technical language.
Rating:
Summary: Communication skills and deflecting manipulation
Review: In addition to recognizing manipulation and deflecting those comments, this book teaches skills about: better communication by recognizing visual versus auditory communication, e.g. ("I see what you mean" versus "I hear you") It discusses that communication skills can be taught and learned, not just the result of luck, inheritance or genius.
Rating:
Summary: Communication skills and deflecting manipulation
Review: In addition to recognizing manipulation and deflecting those comments, this book teaches skills about: better communication by recognizing visual versus auditory communication, e.g. ("I see what you mean" versus "I hear you") It discusses that communication skills can be taught and learned, not just the result of luck, inheritance or genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Recognizing this book was intended for beginners, it was still far too basic. Most everything in the book were common sense approaches that one would generally learn in the game of life.
Rating:
Summary: Great guide to connecting while asserting oneself!
Review: The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense at Work combines a deep understanding of the nonverbal signals that we each send when communicating with a powerful view of how to use words. Dr. Elgin includes many suggestions for practicing the techniques in her book and many examples to enjoy. I will use this book in the next workshop that I run for my web site( ).
Rating:
Summary: Great guide to connecting while asserting oneself!
Review: The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense at Work combines a deep understanding of the nonverbal signals that we each send when communicating with a powerful view of how to use words. Dr. Elgin includes many suggestions for practicing the techniques in her book and many examples to enjoy. I will use this book in the next workshop that I run for my web site( ).
Rating:
Summary: Great Reference
Review: This book is full of great information on the subject of communication and understanding verbal and non-verbal language. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who just wants to sit and read, but its great to refer back to for self improvement. Overall, great book. I'd buy it!
Rating:
Summary: The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette Elgin
Review: This work provides a good development for constructive
argument aimed at management of confrontal modes. The author
describes classic behaviors; such as, the placater, the blamer,
the distracter and the leveler. There is a good section on
voice management which describes unifying metaphors and balanced
speech. The work describes practically every confrontation
imaginable with appropriate voice responses and body language.
This book will help you manage almost any type of confrontation constructively. For this reason, it is well worth the price.
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