words-that-work
According to online reviewers, the best thing about "Words that Work" is its practical insights and clear communication strategies that can be easily applied to various contexts. However, some reviewers consider the worst aspect to be its occasional lack of depth in some topics, leaving readers wanting more comprehensive coverage on certain concepts.
Kindle Highlights: Words That Work: It
Highlights
The key to successful communication is to take the imaginative leap of stuffing yourself right into your listener’s shoes to know what they are thinking and feeling in the deepest recesses of their mind and heart. How that person perceives what you say is even more real, at least in a practical sense, than how you perceive yourself. — location: 90 ^ref-23102
Words that work, whether fiction or reality, not only explain but also motivate. They cause you to think as well as act. They trigger emotion as well as understanding. — location: 97 ^ref-40351
Few things are more valuable than reputation—the integrity of a company’s brand—and articulating overblown promises as a result of undisciplined language can be an incredibly dangerous game to play. — location: 437 ^ref-18289
it generates an “I didn’t know that” response, you have succeeded. — location: 564 ^ref-12058
people will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel. If the listener can apply the language to a general situation or human condition, you have achieved humanization. — location: 608 ^ref-17301
if the listener can relate that language to his or her own life experiences, that’s personalization. — location: 609 ^ref-50129
good advertisements, in a much more minor way, accomplish much the same thing. They make idealists of us all. — location: 641 ^ref-33185
Paint a vivid picture. — location: 643 ^ref-31793
the word imagine is perhaps the single most powerful communication tool because it allows individuals to picture whatever personal vision is in their hearts and minds. — location: 670 ^ref-40233
Rule Nine Ask a Question — location: 708 ^ref-56835
making the same statement in the form of a rhetorical question makes the reaction personal—and personalized communication is the best communication. — location: 726 ^ref-27903
You have to give people the “why” of a message before you tell them the “therefore” and the “so that.” — location: 760 ^ref-37302
Some people call this framing. I prefer the word context, because it better explains why a particular message matters. — location: 761 ^ref-64711
Relevance is one reason market research is so crucial. Until you know what drives and determines a consumer’s or a voter’s decision-making process, any attempt to influence him or her is really just a shot in the dark. — location: 785 ^ref-21637
Beyond market research, the most important factor in guaranteeing relevance is imagination. It’s important to shed your own perspective and try to put yourself in your audience’s position, seeing the world through their eyes. — location: 788 ^ref-31251
rules of effective communication, all summarized in single words: simplicity, brevity, credibility, consistency, novelty, sound, aspiration, visualization, questioning, and context. — location: 795 ^ref-42611
The language lesson: A+B+C does not necessarily equal C+B+A. The order of presentation determines the reaction. — location: 1012 ^ref-13433
asked Americans whether they would be willing to pay higher taxes for “further law enforcement,” and 51 percent agreed. But when I asked them if they would pay higher taxes “to halt the rising crime rate,” 68 percent answered in the affirmative. The difference? Law enforcement is the process, and therefore less popular, while reducing crime is the desirable result. The language lesson: Focus on results, not process. — location: 1123 ^ref-32683
Bad English, whether to sell products or politicians, is abstract and clichéd—designed for the ear but not the intellect. Good English is concrete and alive—and at the same time informative and memorable. — location: 1185 ^ref-24423
Feelings and emotions are what generate words that work. — location: 1706 ^ref-3339