The Power Moves

5 Best Communication Skills Books

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Best Communication Skills Books

This is my top 5 reading list when it comes to communication skills.
This communication skills reading list includes the best of the best to improve your communication skills

I’d like to mention one thing first of all. Most other communication skills reading lists that I have read online actually include titles that I would classify as social skills.
My reading list list instead focuses on books to improve verbal communication skills.
So with our further ado, here’s the list:

5. Crucial Conversations

crucial conversations book cover
by Patterson, Grenny,  McMillan, Switzler
Summary | Kindle | Print | Audiobook
Crucial Conversations is one of the most popular titles in our best communication skills books list.
Among the biggest takeaways:
1. Make it Safe: people hold back out of fear. That’s why you must create an environment where people feel safe to speak and cared for;
2. Fill the Pool: I loved the image of “the pool”, or the shared space of meaning between speakers. The more you fill it, the more successful the conversation will be.
Do get ready for high stakes conversation, because paradoxically when it matters the most is also when we’re most likely to perform the poorest.

Quote: “When it matters the most it’s when people are most likely to avoid or get emotionally. Both major screw up ”

4. Verbal Judo

verbal judo book cover
by George Thompson, Jerry Jenkins
Summary | Kindle | Print
Thompson says that as long as you can manage to never take things personally, you’ll hardly need any verbal judo. But if you can manage that, I still think Verbal Judo will help you become a better communicator.
Here’s something I loved:
Start with negative: when you give a feedback, start with the negative first, then end on a positive note.
With an informal prose and plenty of examples, including straight from the streets (Thompson is a police trainer), Verbal Judo is worth its communication skills weight in gold.

Quote: “Say what you want. As long as you do as I say ”

3. Eliminating Passive Aggressiveness

eliminating passive aggressiveness book cover
by Andrea Brandt
Summary | Kindle | Print | Audiobook
Unluckily I couldn’t find a statistics on how many people are passive aggressive. And that’s probably because everyone of us, at times, resorts to passive aggressive communication. Which is exactly the reason why Andrea Brandt makes it into the top 3 of our best communication skills books: you will communicate with passive aggressive people. And Brandt teaches you exactly how to recognize and how to deal with it.
It’s a great book with top advise and choke full of super helpful examples.
A real eye-opener in the communication genre.

Quote: “If you’re not assertive and if you’re bottling up anger, then you’re passive aggressive”

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People

how to win friends and influence people book cover
by Dale Carnegie
Summary | Print | Audiobook
Could anyone compile a reading list of best communication skills books without Dale Carnegie in it?
I didn’t think so either.
How to Win Friends might not be for you if you need more assertiveness since it’s all about finessing and make others feel good. But I can hardly think of anyone who cannot stand to gain by applying the timeless principles of this huge classic.

Quote: “To be interesting, be interested “

1. Difficult Conversations

difficult conversations book cover
by Douglas Stone, Patton, Heen
Summary | Kindle | Print
Difficult Conversations has been the very first communication skills book I’ve read. And every page I turned I only grew more and more excited realizing I had a wisdom-bomb in my hands.
Difficult conversations helpfully dissects conversations at the three most important levels: what happened, feeling and identity. Difficult conversations are difficult because they are heavily emotions and, sometimes, can reach us at the core of who we are (identity, also read antifragile ego).

Quote: “Humans feel binary when conversations touch identities: either great & lovable or terrible & unworthy “ 

Final Words 

Guys, you can’t go wrong with any of these verbal communication skills books.
Finish to read these 5, apply the teachings and watch your communication skills go the next level.

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