The new year is upon us, and with it comes the plethora of resolutions folks are known to make just before the calendar is flipped. While some gear up for better fitness and investing, others focus on more intimate achievements like learning to communicate better.
BTW, communication is the #1 essential skill for a good, effective college student’s resume.
We humans are social beings. Making friends after college, creating a resume for a new job or internship, crafting a winning college student email signature – it’s all about communication. We thrive on engagements, so it’s important to nail them down for a better societal experience.
Even if you don’t have it on your New Year’s resolution list, you do need to work on your communication skills checking out the best books on communication.
To help you become a pro at it, here’s a list of the 10 best books on communication to learn from:
Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely AnyoneÂ
When you’re a qualified psychiatrist, coach, and business consultant like Mark Goulston, creating one of the best books on communication is light work. Thanks to his experience and skills, Mark has developed a tool that helps you reach out to strangers and turn them into allies using nothing but verbal proficiency.
How do you approach strangers and make them feel important? How do you calm an angered individual and make them see reason? How can you make your colleagues lean more toward you? All the answers lie in the skills and techniques Just Listen provides.
Crucial Conversations
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
The most challenging obstacle facing proper communication is dealing with emotions. When angry, people tend to lose sight of what’s right and fail to react appropriately. However, there are many ways to deal with this situation and Crucial Conversations is the perfect book for you to learn them.
You can either run away, react badly, or, better yet, employ the techniques in this text to combat emotions at crucial points. It helps you communicate better and ensures you reach a positive resolution.
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of LifeÂ
Part of life requires you to always go after what you want; to make the right effort to accomplish your goals. But at the same time, such approach can lead to conflict and violence if not done correctly. So, the question is how do you avoid such?
In Nonviolent Communication, you’re taught how to combine practical skills with intellectual speech to reach better conclusions with others. In other words, it’ll introduce you to be better with your words and relationship with others.
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
by Carmine Gallo, Chris Voss, Tahl Raz, Chris-Anderson
There are different levels to the art of communicating with other people. While some spend the majority of their time negotiating business deals and potential clients, others focus on providing solace to the mentally weak through therapy. In that same vein, some are adept at negotiating with the other side, and by “other side”, we’re talking about kidnappers and robbers.
No jokes, Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator, brings to light the strategies and tricks he implemented during his FBI days. Those tricks, though for a different purpose, will help boost your power of persuasion, especially in high-stake situations.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Have you considered what makes people say yes to some questions and no to others? What’s the driving force behind positive responses to persuasion? These questions are precisely what Robert Cialdini aims to solve in his influential book about persuasion.
Influence is the all-inclusive manual to persuading potential clients towards you. It teaches you everything you need to know about why people say yes and the psychology behind their thinking. You also learn to apply those techniques to your work and social settings.
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
Through the illustrations of past scandals and beefs, Malcolm Gladwell introduces readers to the processes behind failed and misleading conversations. He also explains why discussions go wrong and how to evade such situations. Excerpts from stories of Fidel Castro and the FBI and even Chamberlain and Hitler are just two examples of conversations gone bad that we can learn from.
The 5 Love Languages
There’s no better feeling than that of love for your dreamboat. The ecstasy and thrill make the love worth the ride, but how do you maintain this love? Sure, it’s easy to fall in love, but staying in love, now that’s the hard part. The 5 Love Languages is the bible for all couples looking to keep their relationship going. It offers insights on how to communicate through difficult times and conflicts.
Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking
Giving a public talk is perhaps one of the hardest things to do. It’s even worse when it’s impromptu and in front of guests you know nothing about. But that’s what Ted Talks is here to help you with. From conquering your stage fright to electrifying the room with a powerful speech, this text will help you become the best public speaker you could ever be.
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently
A key factor to effective communication is learning that not all discussions lead to meaningful connections. Some talk with people, and others connect with people. Knowing the difference and how to achieve the latter is vital to proper engagements. It’s all about making people feel heard, comfortable, and understood. You’ll need to grab a copy of this book to learn these.
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters
There are two sides to effective communication. While it’s important to apply practical talking skills for better results in your persuasion, the other side of it is paying rapt attention and listening wholeheartedly to the views of others and ensuring they’re heard and understood.
 Best Books on Communication: Wrapping Up
Effective communication starts with understanding the basics of productive talking and listening. If you don’t know how to talk to others, you can never get them to understand your standpoints or persuade them in a business setting. At the same time, if you don’t listen to others, they’ll never feel understood or comfortable around you.
To improve your communication skills, start by purchasing the best books on communication of 2024 with BookScouter.com.
