"[Think on Your Feet] is a helpful maven's guide ideal for anyone who views a podium with fear and trembling."-Publishers Weekly Get out of your own way! Our professional lives are full of situations outside of our control. A job interviewer asks a question out of left field. A coworker puts you on the spot in front of the boss. Your PowerPoint presentation crashes at a critical moment. Most people react to the unexpected with anxiety and unease. We get rattled, stumble over our words, and overthink the situation. Others, though, handle it with self-assurance and aplomb. They gain a sense of empowerment and energy when the pressure is on. Like great improv actors, they're able to think on their feet. The great thing is, improv isn't about winging it or flying by the seat of your pants; improv at its core is about listening and responding. It's based on rules and techniques, and it taps directly into your soft communication skills. By incorporating it into your prep work for professional situations, you'll learn how to retrain your brain for the unexpected and get out of your own way in those unexpected-and expected-professional situations. Practicing improv isn't about being funny. Instead, it's about developing the mental agility to spin any surprise in your favor and to communicate with confidence. Filled with engaging improv activities, this interactive guide will ensure you never come away from a tough moment pondering the woulda, coulda, shoulda! again. You'll learn how to nurture your personal style for communicating in every professional situation. From effective listening in the office, giving presentations, and leading meetings to negotiating a raise, acing an interview, and more, you'll start communicating with confidence and stop letting the unexpected hold you back. Take your workplace communication-and your career-to the next level by mastering the art of Thinking on Your Feet.

People buy more and buy more happily when in good humor. Understanding humor and being able to effectively use it for your sales and persuasion purposes is a powerful advantage--for any speaker, salesman or writer."
Drawn from 30 years' experience as a popular professional speaker, author of 13 books, columnist and advertising copywriter, Dan Kennedy looks at humor as an instrument of persuasion and influence. Anyone--amateur--or pro--who must stand and deliver speeches, seminars, group sales presentations, serve as toastmaster, or write advertisements, sales letters or newsletters will find fodder here, to be faster on their feet, more confident and adept at being funny with a purpose. The book contains thoughtful insight but also simple shortcuts. Reading it, you'll get a better appreciation for the humor around you and humor professionals who entertain you, and you'll exit stage left with humor strategies and tricks you can use. Even if you're not all that funny. Note: this book contains adult material and may not be suitable for minors. Or for the easily offended.
From the author. . .
"I first titled this book "Mugging for Fun and Profit," but then thought better of it. Reminds me of Napoleon Hill being threatened by his publisher with the title 'Use Your Noodle To Get The Boodle, ' which Hill transformed to 'Think And Grow Rich.' Overnight. The power of a deadline and desperation. And one of the all-time bestselling books on the subject of success the result. Anyway, unless you are just doing to hit 'em over the head and drag them out into the desert to empty their pockets, I'd suggest, you need to know how to make 'em laugh.

Straight-talk at work Grumblings in offices everywhere suggest that there is not much that we crave more, but don't get often enough. Beyond Bullsh*t reveals the dynamics of bullsh*t and why it has become the corporate etiquette of choice. It also explains how telling it straight contributes to personal well-being and business success. This book is for people who wonder what it's going to take to get rid of the constant deception and obfuscation that, at the end of the work day, leaves them feeling beaten up, confused, and even a little dirty. It is also for the people greeting them at home, wondering, What's going on that takes such a toll? Pressed for an answer, many explain it's all the bullsh*t I have to endure. Even people who disdain deception find themselves involved in it. They bullsh*t at work. After decades of research and consulting, Samuel A. Culbert is convinced that straight-talk at work is possible. But it requires more than luck and willing people. Straight-talk is the product of thoughtful, caring relationships built upon trust and a commitment to look out for one another's success. Culbert describes this brand of truthfulness as a caring, other-sensitive, candor-on-demand, loyalty-producing, intimacy-escalating, give-and-take relationship, leading to enhanced personal and organizational productivity. From an organizational perspective, there's no greater contribution to operational effectiveness and success than conversations in which people with conflicting viewpoints discuss their differences forthrightly. Readers will find this book personal--which is unusual for a business book; they will think that many of the stories are about them.They will be engaged and delighted as the text demystifies the obstacles to getting beyond bullsh*t, and guides them in developing straight-talk relationships at work. N.B.: One pending blurb--Robert Sutton

Addressing the unique difficulties involved in day-to-day project management communication, The Project Manager s Communication Toolkit provides proven methods for creating clear and effective communications including text-based plans, reports, messages, and presentations. It examines the many tools available and goes beyond traditional coverage to define their proper use and application.

Using language that s easy to understand, the author explains how to determine the appropriate tools for specific communication needs. This time-saving resource provides the understanding to harness the power of everyday communication, such as email and PowerPoint(r) to:

• Gain control over project parameters
• Overcome conflict
• Create effective project plans, charters, and statements of work

Considering that most projects fail due to lapses in communication, it is essential for project managers to understand how to communicate their plans and ideas clearly and effectively. Complete with numerous examples and case studies, this book provides the understanding required to select the right tools, as well as the insight to use those tools effectively in a wide range of real-world situations.

Praise for:

... a slam dunk in providing the reader a foundation, emphasizing various tools, techniques; and in which situations they should be applied. The case studies further challenge the day-to-day situations one may face; providing techniques that work Anyone that has been part of a project team will benefit from this book.
Lisa Holowiak, Quality Assurance Specialist, Pfizer, in PM World Today, Vol. XII, Issue X

a valuable resource for program and project managers at all levels and all industries. Shankar very successfully managed very large and complex projects for my organization utilizing many of these tools and techniques.
Nancy Couture, V. P. Enterprise Intelligence, Ingenix

ExpressExec is a unique business resource of one hundred books. These books present the best current thinking and span the entire range of contemporary business practice. Each book gives you the key concepts behind the subject and the techniques to implement the ideas effectively, together with lessons from benchmark companies and ideas from the world's smartest thinkers.

ExpressExec is organised into ten core subject areas making it easy to find the information you need:

01 Innovation
02 Enterprise
03 Strategy
04 Marketing
05 Finance
06 Operations and Technology
07 Organizations
08 Leading
09 People
10 Life and Work

ExpressExec is a perfect learning solution for people who need to master the latest business thinking and practice quickly.

Most research on corporate communication has concentrated on positivist approaches, leading to a limited view. This book reviews extant corporate communication theory from discourse and strategy-as-practice perspectives, expanding the picture by more communicational aspects. It proposes an integrative framework of alternative corporate communication as a key contribution to corporate communication theory.

Is Your Networking Net Working? is the how-to guide for professionals and entrepreneurs to become their own center of influence using a unique and exciting business networking strategy. Like it or not, everyone needs to meet more people. Professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners need to network in order to get their name, face, product, or service out in front of the public. They need a constant flow of new, quality prospects and clients in order to become a high-profile, sought-after, respected professional. Financial service professional John Dade emphasizes the importance of business networking to business and income growth. He reveals how it doesn't have to be a chore or stressful endeavor. Is Your Networking Net Working? serves as a step by step guide for readers to build their own networking group based on their likes and passions and how to become their own center of influence and Go To Person. For anyone looking for a way to network, or even those who think they aren't the networking type, this guide helps them build relationships and get better results.

It's no good having a good idea if you cannot communicate it to someone else. John Simmons, in this stimulating and readable book, demonstrates how we can write and use words more creatively and persuasively in business today. From differentiating your company from another, to injecting life and vibrancy into your products and services, to writing everyday emails, this cult business book by the modern-day guru of business writing (now released as a new 21st anniversary edition) shows ways in which we can use words to gain competitive advantage in business life through "tone of voice". John Simmons' method of writing powerfully for business is based on his "WE, ME, THEM and IT" model, which over the past 25 years has been adopted by tens of thousands of marketers and other professionals around of the world. Simmons argues that effective business writing is about learning to love writing and words, and bringing more of our real selves to working life.

Today, social media offers an alternative broadcast and communication medium for nonprofit advocacy organizations. At the same time, social media ushers in a "noisy" information era that renders it more difficult for nonprofits to make their voices heard. This book seeks to unpack the prevalence, mechanisms, and ramifications of a new model for nonprofit advocacy in a social media age. The keyword for this new model is attention. Advocacy always starts with attention: when an organization speaks out on a cause, it must ensure that it has an audience and that its voice is heard by that audience; it must ensure that current and potential supporters are paying attention to what it has to say before expecting more tangible outcomes. Yet the organization must also ensure that advocacy does not end with attention: attention should serve as a springboard to something greater. The authors elaborate how attention fits into contemporary organizations' advocacy work and explain the key features of social media that are driving the quest for attention. Developing conceptual models, they explain why some organizations and messages gain attention while others do not. Lastly, the book explores how organizations are weaving together online and offline efforts to deliver strategic advocacy outcomes.

One wrong move can undercut your message. Believe it or not, our bodies speak louder than our words. Postures, gestures, and expressions convey reams of information--and often not what you'd expect. A smile, for example, is usually considered welcoming. But crook one corner of your mouth higher and you project superiority, subconsciously chasing other people away. Without Saying a Word explains how even the subtlest motions have meaning. Distilling decades of research, the book deciphers these unspoken signals: from facial expressions and fleeting micro expressions to positive and negative body language. Discover which postures and gestures indicate confidence and build rapport--and which reveal disinterest, arrogance, or even aggression. Learn to end off-putting habits, accentuate good ones, and become an authentic and effective communicator. Exhibiting body language that is open, honest, and self-assured increases your social influence and enhances your skill as a negotiator . . . while the ability to read the emotions and intentions of others is equally indispensable. Whether you're making a presentation, pitching a project, or closing a deal, the right body language can be your best ally.

If you are a manager who receives the results of any data analyst's work to help with your decision-making, this book is for you. Anyone playing a role in the field of analytics can benefit from this book as well. In the two decades the editors of this book spent teaching and consulting in the field of analytics, they noticed a critical shortcoming in the communication abilities of many analytics professionals. Specifically, analysts have difficulty in articulating in business terms what their analyses showed and what actionable recommendations were made. When analysts made presentations, they tended to lapse into the technicalities of mathematical procedures, rather than focusing on the strategic and tactical impact and meaning of their work. As analytics has become more mainstream and widespread in organizations, this problem has grown more acute. Data Analytics: Effective Methods for Presenting Results tackles this issue. The editors have used their experience as presenters and audience members who have become lost during presentation. Over the years, they experimented with different ways of presenting analytics work to make a more compelling case to top managers. They have discovered tried and true methods for improving presentations, which they share. The book also presents insights from other analysts and managers who share their own experiences. It is truly a collection of experiences and insight from academics and professionals involved with analytics. The book is not a primer on how to draw the most beautiful charts and graphs or about how to perform any specific kind of analysis. Rather, it shares the experiences of professionals in various industries about how they present their analytics results effectively. They tell their stories on how to win over audiences. The book spans multiple functional areas within a business, and in some cases, it discusses how to adapt presentations to the needs of audiences at different levels of management.

Fund Your Book serves as the ultimate guide to raising $10,000+ to self-publish a business book. More and more self-publishers are realizing that to publish a professional book, they need to hire a professional publishing team - editors, designers, printers, distributors and more. The problem? Where are they supposed to find $3,000 to $15,000+ to publish their book? In Fund Your Book, authors learn how to build long-term, reciprocal relationships with influencers in their industry, the top two strategies for funding books through partnerships, a simple, five-step process to fund their self-published book, and more!

Bestselling author and psychologist Adrian Furnham takes a critical and challenging view of the jargon and current fads in management contained in manifestos, mantras and mission statements and shows how these often obscure and mystify. In this latest book he turns his skeptical attention to such topics as atmospherics, blame culture, compulsory training, fundamentalist gurus, integrity tests, networming, personality of organizations, and uncertainty avoidance.

All teamwork is grounded on effective communication. Project Communication enables project managers, leaders of project teams and team members to get their ideas heard, facilitate effective teamwork, create a culture of openness and creative thinking--in short, a culture of effective communication within their team. . The book opens with an orientation on what group dynamics and interpersonal communication entail, particularly in terms of management teams. It then guides the reader on a personal journey whereby different theories and concepts in group dynamics, communication and project team management are gradually introduced. Readers are encouraged to use the book to explore and improve their personal communication style, with the aim of sustaining growth and development within project teams and their respective organisations. Project Communication is an ideal companion to professionals, specialists, and project managers who are leading or working in teams within all types of organisations, businesses, NGOs and governmental and transnational institutions. The book should be of interest to all those who want to use psychological knowledge to improve their teams. It is also a practical guide that can be used as a training course in interpersonal communication in general, with a special focus on project teams.

The millennial generation is unique in various ways, particularly with regard to their career aspirations and expectations. Due to their reputation as "job hoppers," recruiting millennials is not enough. Retention of a millennial workforce is imperative for organizational success and longevity. This book explores the expectations held by millennials and the ways in which they differ from those of past generations. It covers a broad range of topics including onboarding, work/life balance, stress, retention after a crisis, boredom, internships, and how employers can best leverage mobile platforms for increased engagement.

"This book is an immensely useful guide to the use of cultural intelligence at work. Cultural intelligence is the individual's capacity for successful work and social adaptation to new cultural settings, and indeed to any unfamiliar social environment. Part I details the various components of cultural intelligence. Part II provides realistic, practical, culture-sensitive stories from intercultural work settings. It describes how leading multicultural organizations deal with cultural diversity, how to create high performing international teams, how to improve job assignments to other cultures, how to deal with a diverse work force, and how to lead people in international organizations."--Harry C. Triandis, University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign
"One of tomorrow's certainties is that more and more people will need to understand the effects of culture on behavior and the impact of cultural differences. In CQ, the authors give us important frameworks and insights for developing an understanding of cultures other than our own. Throughout the book, interesting, intriguing, and stimulating examples are presented that focus on cultural differences in workplace interactions and the necessity for dealing with them effectively from the points of view of all stakeholders involved."--Richard Brislin, University of Hawaii

One of the most important requirements of leadership is effective communication. The idea that some people are natural leaders and that others will never learn to show good leadership is now outdated. It has been replaced by the conviction that leadership and communication skills can be learnt. This second edition of Communication in Organizations continues to give clear advice and guidance on communicating in a range of different contexts in the workplace. From handling complaints and breaking bad news to negotiating deals and giving presentations, it explores the building blocks to effective communication skills, nurturing the leadership qualities required in any organization. By defining the abstract concepts of 'organization' and 'communication', it provides readers with the necessary skills to conduct any conversation on a professional manner. Illustrated with concrete examples throughout, this new edition includes a new chapter on career coaching, with exercises and ideas for role-play to enable the ideas to come alive. The three parts work seamlessly to expand the readers' conversation skill-set as they progress through the book. Communication in Organizations is an invaluable resource for students of management and business psychology, as well as those taking courses who are already in the workplace. The practical aspects compliment both introductory and advanced courses in interpersonal communication, leadership and business and professional communication.

Meetings should drive results. Instead they drive most people crazy! Make Meetings Matter will help you rethink the role of meetings in your organization and enable you to: * Reinvent meetings to get more done, minimize time spent, and maximize productivity. * Avoid unnecessary and useless meetings. * Keep participants engaged and energized. * Keep the agenda on track. * Leverage technology. * Ensure follow-up action is taken.

Leading a meeting? giving a presentation? Heading a workshop? Icebreakers are great for lightening up the atmosphere at the beginning of a meeting or event, and encouraging everyone to participate fully. This collection of 50 icebreakers is organized around common business
situations and is designed to help leaders start every session, meeting, presentation, or workshop with a burst of energy and fun. Includes icebreakers for sales meetings, team building, complete strangers, introducing a topic, staff meetings, groups over 20, outdoor settings, and more. this latest book in the popular Big Book of Business Games series is the most fun yet!

Efficiently and effectively assess employees performance. Are your employees meeting their goals? Is their work improving over time? Understanding where your employees are succeeding-and falling short-is a pivotal part of ensuring you have the right talent to meet organizational objectives. In order to work with your people and effectively monitor their progress, you need a system in place. The HBR Guide to Performance Management provides a new multi-step, cyclical process to help you keep track of your employees' work, identify where they need to improve, and ensure they're growing with the organization. You'll learn to: Set clear employee goals that align with company objectives Monitor progress and check in regularly Close performance gaps Understand when to use performance analytics Create opportunities for growth, tailored to the individual Overcome and avoid burnout on your team Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Also Available as a Time Warner AudioBook

What's the one skill you simply must have to succeed? Verbal Fluency.

From Harvard to Stanford and many places in between, the ability to converse with our colleagues, co-workers, and potential clients is identified as the #1 success factor. Whether your goal is a new job, a promotion, confidence in social and business situations, an elected office in a professional association, to expand your business base, or to be chairman of the board, your ability to mix well and converse will determine how well you do. Now expert socializer Susan RoAne, bestselling author of How to Work a Room and The Secrets of Savvy Networking, shows how easy it is to gain the verbal edge.

What Do I Say Next?

Easy to read, enthusiastic, and peppered with hot tips and practical suggestions from scores of business leaders, What Do I Say Next? is a primer that will turn you into a ConverSensation' before you know it! No matter if you're shy or extroverted, outgoing or anywhere in the middle, this book is for you. It's packed with important do's and don'ts, guidelines and insights -- some of which may surprise you!

Discover:

• what the terrific talkers avoid -- a special list that goes well beyond the obvious.
• a Seven Quick-Step Shyness Recovery Program-author Susan RoAne recognizes your fears and takes you by the hand.
• the O.A.R. METHOD -- detailed strategies to start, build, and maintain conversation.
• how the masters of small talk prepare themselves for conversation -- and how some small lifestyle changes can turn you into a magnetic and masterful talker.
• solutions to awkward situations -- including what to do when you forget someone's name, how to speak to those in mourning, and the best way to deal with offensive conversations.
• how to communicate online-tips for chat rooms, forums, and E-mail.
• "Magic Words," unusual ice breakers, talk-inducing body language, and other tools of the trade that make conversations hum.
• the best ways to use humor -- and when NOT to use it.
• how to shine at a business function.
• ...and much more!

What Do I Say Next? can do more than improve your social graces. As you become a more effective communicator and listener, you will have a greater influence on decision-makers, build better business relationships, develop friendships...and get more out of life.