Product Description

Phyllis Mindell, an acclaimed expert on professional communications, shows women how to transform themselves by transforming their language; shed weak words, phrases, and gestures; empower themselves to win attention and respect; and get their ideas across with confidence and power.

Perhaps the best teacher of how the power of language can transform is an unexpected one: Charlotte the spider of E.B. White's, Charlotte's Web. Mindell demonstrates how Charlotte communicated messages that gained national attention and saved a friend's life. As a model, she combines female strengths of wisdom and compassion with the determination and power to make a difference.

As part of Prentice Hall Press's highly successful How to Say It tm series, How to Say It tm for Women is packed with practical tips, techniques, and examples that arm women to grapple with every communication issue, from choosing the right word or sentence to speaking, reading, writing, leading, dressing, and interviewing effectively. Readers will learn how to: shun words that weaken messages and make women invisible; sail through interviews; assess and develop leadership skills; say NO, kindly but firmly; respond appropriately to slurs, insults, and harassment; say the one winning word that gets people to follow directions.

True stories about women in every field, along with quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Carla Hills, Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Dole and others, enable women to tap the power of words to persuade, motivate, establish authority, and make a difference-- without sacrificing their integrity, their compassion, or their femininity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11607 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01
• Released on: 2001-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Phyllis Mindell, Ed.D., founded and leads Well-Read, an international communications consulting firm. Dr. Mindell, is the author of the best-selling A Woman's Guide to the Language of Success, Communicating With Confidence and Power (Prentice Hall Press), and has helped thousands of women at every corporate level transform their language and their lives through her Woman Language, Woman Power and Well-Read Woman seminars.

Customer Reviews

Women who want to advance into management should invest in this book
I purchased this book because of the praise of other Amazon reviewers and I was not disappointed!

As a professional in a very male dominated field, this book truly hit home for me - so much so that a few of the points the author made were echoes of comments made previously by my boss about my own performance. Women fall into many traps that undermine their credibility and this book calls them out, one by one.

I can't tell you how often I'm on a conference call and use the words "I think..." or "In my opinion...". Men don't use these words. Besides, they know that's what you think - you're the one saying it! However, justifiers such as these portray you as insecure, whether true or not. This is just one example of the ways women inadvertently tarnish their credibility.

The author covers a vast array of topics and ways to become a stronger leader (and this doesn't necessarily mean you have to be just like a man!):

Weak words and grammar
Presentations and speaking in front of a group
Body language
Style and dress
Reading for Power (what you read and how)
Listening
Leadership and Management

The author includes many examples to illustrate her points and provides information that women can put to work to accelerate their careers. It is such a useful text that it was the recommended reading selection for a continuing education course a friend of mine recently attended. (She has already asked to borrow my copy.) The author has been conducting workshops on this topic for years and (sometimes humorously) includes her observances from those classes and participants in her book. Take advantage of her knowledge and invest in this book - you will not be disappointed!

How to be the speaker you admire
In the course of a year, I met the two most articulate, elegantly spoken people I have ever encountered. One was a (male) CEO of a large company. The other was a (female) public relations person working in the entertainment industry. I did business with the former and became close friends with the latter. Both made me feel just a little inadequate about my use of language. I knew I was far more intelligent than my speech presented. One day, after listening to my friend say one of her gorgeously precise sentences, I asked her where she had learned to speak so powerfully, always able to find the most effective word, always able to form them into the most on-the-mark sentences. Her answer was this book.

I would never have picked it up on my own. The "for women" part would have put me off. I wasn't thinking of my "weak" language as a gender issue. But, even if you don't look at things that way, this book will help you.

Read it. Do the exercises. You'll think about language in a whole new way and find yourself being listened to -and believed- more than ever.

What every woman should know!
I read about this book - actually, I consider it a textbook - when searching for tools on expanding my career. I usually wouldn't buy something like this, and instead look for similar information from free 'Net sources. But on a whim, I bought it, and am so glad I did. I'm not even halfway through and what I've learned already has helped me to speak and express myself in a way that gets people's attention, and has improved my professional image. One of the best tips, which comes early in the book, is catching myself using the "I think/like/don't like" phrase when I want to discuss facts. I do it, so I don't look like a know-it-all. Dr. Mindell, however, shows several ways to express facts without appearing as though I have all the answers.

The author also cites common grammar and language mistakes that keep women in the background, and prevent us from asserting our strengths and skills. The concept of Weak Language is especially intriguing; in reviewing the examples, I saw myself in almost every one. Her solutions are very attainable, but she strongly recommends practicing this new language with another woman. I have, and my women friends were amazed at how powerful this "new" language sounds.

These are hard habits to break, but with the tips and examples in this book, I'm getting better at it. And I can see the difference in how others treat me; more importantly, I feel different about myself. The book is really a life-changing experience, for someone who has never really put much thought into my "image" but is continually frustrated at not getting the positive attention for my work success as I believe I deserve. Thank you Dr. Mindell!