Sunday, March 14, 2010

Everyone Communicates Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently by John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell in Everyone Communicates Few Connect provides guidance to help leaders move from talking and sharing information to connecting to audiences, ranging from one on one to large audiences. Maxwell breaks his work into two parts; principles the theory of connection, and practices, how to connect. At the end of each chapter, Maxwell provides an overview of the major points of each chapter and tips on applying each chapter’s content for different audiences. The author reminds us that in order to be effective we must connect. Overall this book provides tools to improving oneself as a communicator and more importantly as a leader by connecting messages with audiences.

To be honest, many of the principles and practices in this book are not new material. We all know, or should know, that in order to be a successful communicator one needs to energetic, you need to care about your audience and you need to be credible. Despite this, we all need reminders of these “facts” and Maxwell does an excellent job of collecting common sense and practical principles and tips for successful communication. Personally, this book has lead me to self assess how I communicate to a large group in my own workplace. I find myself asking, is it about me or them, and I credible, do I give them credit, do I make them insiders and many many more. This book is a great resource for anyone who needs to communicate, which is pretty much everyone!

Review Copy provided by Thomas Nelson