Your career. Your faith. Your hobbies. Your art. Your family. Your life. There is one thing that all of these pieces of you have in common: people. There is a social aspect to everything you are involved in.
Whether you are trying to get a promotion, trying to get published, or trying to get a date, you’ve got to have people skills to get what you want in life. You must be able to clearly express yourself and make it worthwhile for other people to listen to you. You must develop the ability to grow meaningful relationships with your fellow human beings. What better place to start than in a book?
These books cover a broad range of topics: from leadership to psychology to public speaking. But they all point to helping you become better at getting along with those around you. You need other people. Other people need you. It’s time to become a people person…
A classic. Get what you want from other people by giving other people what they want from you — that’s the gist of this book. To broaden and deepen your social circle, it starts with becoming a giver.
This book is filled with scenarios in which we encounter awkward or uncomfortable conversations that need to occur. It gives advice on how to react to specific statements and tones of voice. Great dramatization.
The essential book on the mechanics of communicating. Body language. Tone of voice. Signaling. It’s all here. Great read for understanding how you come across to other people when you are communicating.
One way to become an effective communicator is simply to attract people to you. Be an approachable person. Make people comfortable associating with you. This book shows you how.
Great set of principles to be present and engaged in conversations. Emphasis is placed on conversations in the workplace, but implications are present for all conversations in life.
The premise is to always make your mealtime an excuse for conversation. You have to eat, so you might as well share the meal with someone and build a relationship. But it goes beyond that. Great discussion on the importance of generosity in building a nework.
Great advice on how to have important conversations that no one wants to have. Discussion on handling outbursts and dealing with angry people. Great tips on telling stories and being persuasive in conversation.
Probably the most widely used textbook in public speaking courses. Sometimes, your communication will be directed toward a group of people. Whether it’s five or five hundred, this book will give you the basic techniques and attitudes necessary for speaking to groups.
This book answers the very basic question: how do you enter into a conversation? It does this by rewriting a series of rules we’ve been taught about communication since we were young. Great resource on how to become the life of the party.
A referral isn’t just a business term. It means so much more. It’s about someone being comfortable and confident enough in their relationship with you to tell others about it. This book shows you how to relate to people in such away the referrals just keep coming and coming.
Emotional intelligence is about empathy. It’s about understanding and appreciating others on an emotional level. This book gives you a systematic way of assessing how good you are at relating to other emotionally… and tells you what you need do to improve.
Perhaps one of the greatest books on teamwork ever written. Designed for the workplace, this explores the disagreements and struggles that teams go through and how to remedy the conflict in order to grow together and produce better results.
What have you learned from the books on communication that you’ve read? What’s your favorite? If you could write a book on communication or building relationships, what would you call it? Share your thoughts below…
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Doug Rice is the Small Business Storyteller, a writer who helps small business people develop content for web pages, blog posts, newsletters, white papers, and more. He is an avid reader, a coffee snob, and a lover of all things business and marketing. On his blog, Doug writes regularly on issues related to small business marketing.
Hmm, got the big FAIL going on here - I haven't read any of these books, and I only heard of a couple like #1, #6 and #12.
@dbvickery I would recommend #1 Dale Carnegie first and foremost. For something more direct on communication method and handling specific conversations, #2 Difficult Conversations is by far the best I've ever read...
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I am putting this all on my reading list.
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Great list, Doug! I can't wait to start reading some of these that I haven't read already! I'm always looking for recommendations.
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I loved this list, Doug, and you gave me some excellent ideas to share with my students when I go back in the fall and ones I can actually refer to, myself, for instruction. As far as writing a book on communication/relationships, or my favorite book on communication/relationships, well, let's just say done and done :-). Ellen @chattyprof
@chattyprof Thanks, Ellen! I was REALLY close to including your book. It's certainly the best education-oriented book on communication I've ever read: http://www.amazon.com/Say-This-That-Your-Professor/dp/1935254685/.
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