The Communication Book: 44 Ideas for Better Conversations Every Day by Mikael Krogerus


The Communication Book: 44 Ideas for Better Conversations Every Day
Title : The Communication Book: 44 Ideas for Better Conversations Every Day
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1324001984
ISBN-10 : 9781324001980
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 208
Publication : Published February 4, 2020

Want better conversations? Ask open-ended questions that have no right or wrong answers—make your partner feel brilliant.
Want better meetings? Ban smartphones, use a timer, and make everyone stand up.
Want better business deals? Focus on the thing, rather than the person; on similarities, rather than differences; and on good outcomes, rather than perfect ones.

Whether you want to present ideas more clearly, improve your small talk, or master the art of introspection, The Communication Book delivers, fusing theoretical knowledge and practical advice in a small but mighty package. With sections on work, the self, relationships and language, this book is indispensable for anyone who wants to improve what they say, and how they say it.


The Communication Book: 44 Ideas for Better Conversations Every Day Reviews


  • Ashley

    Best for:
    Perhaps people who need to negotiate? Or maybe people who just want a quick reference of different ideas or theories on communication? I’m not totally sure.

    In a nutshell:
    An attempt at narrowing down — into two pages and a diagram — theories of communication.

    Worth quoting:
    “Negotiating properly means everyone gets more than they expected to.”

    Why I chose it:
    I was about a week away from starting up an office job for the first time in nearly a year, and figured I could use a refresher on communicating with people who aren’t my partner or friends.

    Review:
    I’m not sure what this book is. It’s not a book that you read cover to cover (well, I did, but I didn’t need to). It is more of a reference book. And while the ideas the authors explore are loosely collected into communication realms (Job and Career, Self and Knowledge, Love and Friendship, Words and Meanings), I didn’t notice much of a difference between certain ideas that warranted them being siloed into such categories. But I appreciate the attempt at good organization.

    I think this book would work much better in a larger format, where one page is the diagram of the idea (and the diagrams are cute and somewhat helpful), and one page is the overview / explanation. There isn’t a lot of content here — each section is a very high-level overview — so my suggestion would result in a much thinner book, but I think that book would be better for it. The diagrams all take up two pages, which means there’s the spine smack in the middle. It’s hard to read.

    The fact that I don’t recall much of what I read, and that my focus is on organization and formatting should be a hint as to why I’m not a big fan of this book. I appreciate the concept and even some of the content, but the execution just didn’t work for me.

    Keep it / Donate it / Toss it:
    Keep it, because it might be a good reference point.

  • Arpita Tonney

    It lacked realistic description and example of communication theories described. Nevertheless it contains a wide range of topics and theories for building better communication skills.

  • Tuti

    concise, fun & useful

  • Hestia Istiviani

    I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia

    Even if you say nothing, you are saying something.


    Buku ini berkali-kali menarik perhatian sejak aku bekerja di kantor konsultan bisnis. Rasa-rasanya, memahami seni berkomunikasi akan membawa keuntungan tertentu jika sedang bernegosiasi dengan klien. Sayangnya, aku malah baru sempat membaca ketika sudah berganti profesi. Namun, jika dipikir-pikir, tidak ada ruginya untuk mempertajam kemampuan komunikasi. Suatu saat, pasti akan berguna, juga.

    Seperti yang menjadi sub-judul, buku ini berisi 44 ide, atau lebih jelasnya adalah 44 teori komunikasi yang bisa dimengerti dengan mudah oleh orang awam (orang yang secara akademik tidak mempelajari Ilmu Komunikasi). Setiap ide dijelaskan dalam 1 bentuk diagram dan 2 halaman penjelasan yang langsung on point. Ada yang berupa poin-poin, ada yang berupa paragraf yang dilengkapi dengan contoh di dalam keseharian kita.

    The Communication Book dibagi menjadi 5 bagian: Job and Career, Self and Knowledge, Love and Friendship, Words and Meaning, dan Conclusion. Masing-masing bagian berisi ide-ide yang memang bisa diterapkan dalam komunikasi bidang itu.

    Alih-alih aku mendapatkan insight dari buku ini untuk pengembangan karirku, aku malah paling suka dengan bagian Words and Meaning. Aku memang sempat belajar sedikit tentang berapa teori dalam Ilmu Komunikasi. Membaca bagian itu di buku ini semacam pengingat dalam bentuk yang lebih singkat dan visual (karena dibantu dengan diagram).

    Buku ini rasanya cocok bagi teman-teman yang sudah berpikiran untuk mulai mengembangkan karir melalui peningkatan kemampuan diri. Singkat, namun bisa dijadikan alat bantu. Referensi atau bibliografi yang ada di akhir buku juga bisa ditelusur jika masih penasaran dengan kelengkapan teorinya.

    A message is more than just what is said. It changes depending on how it is understood.

  • Andres Marin

    These are my top 10 takeaways:

    1. Reciprocity

    If you want someone to admit something, start by talking honestly about your own mistakes.

    Offer something first. Then ask for what you want.

    2. Ethos

    We have more trust in a doctor who is wearing a white coat and displaying diplomas on the wall.

    Find out what your white coat is.

    3. Perspective

    Get in the habit of helping and watch your life change.

    Don’t say: "no big deal", say: "of course, it’s what partners do for each other".

    4. Leadership

    Keep using ‘we’ especially when your team has lost.

    Go easy on the compliments, otherwise they lose their effect. If you celebrate behavior that you expect, you are lowering standards. Don’t give praise simply to please.

    5. Influence

    Only say what is true and important, and express it clearly and simply.

    Everyone has a voice, but not everyone is heard.

    6. Negotiating

    You must never try to make all the money that’s in the deal.

    Let the other fellow make some money too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won’t have many deals.

    7. Less, but Better

    Talk less. You should not try to convince the other person by talking a lot.

    Listen, don’t talk. Don’t finish the other person’s sentence.

    8. Networking

    Be the one person in the group who is interested in the other person’s topics.

    A powerful tweak to the usual ‘what do you do for a living’ is ‘what’s keeping you busy these days’.

    9. Ownership

    Instead of "I’m sorry that your feelings were hurt", say: "I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings". Admit full responsibility for what you did.

    Don’t justify your actions. A justification is in effect a denial of the apology.

    10. Behavior

    It’s not what we read on our smartphone that changes our behavior, but that we are reading it on our smartphone.

    We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.

  • Nilendu Misra

    Good, succinct presentation. However, every 3rd “bad” example was Trump. Come on. He won world’s hardest battle - US Presidency - by pretty much ONLY communicating over twitter. Ideology aside, many lessons to learn from - could have been a great example in the slightly negative “The Power Method”.

  • Apollos Michio

    A book that presents 44 ideas on communication that readers can employ in their daily lives to speak more effectively. Each idea presented is very short though (2 pages each) so the ideas don’t feel very impactful even though they’re relatively succinct.

  • Dakshin

    An exceptional book that distills the best of communication techniques and philosophies.
    I would have given it a full cent percent star rating but what bothers me is that this book still could have carried messages on communicating during times of distress and in areas related to anger management. My wish could be far fetched but remains to show that there is room for 2nd volume to this book. I am certainly eager to get my hands on it if they publish a follow up book with more condensed theories on communication - something that seems so mundane, routine and easy yet is beyond the grasping clutches of all of us.

    Plenty to learn and practice. Here's a book that will stick to you for the rest of your life and serve as a quick reference in case you flip through the pages even after reading through the book for the first time.

  • Kristīne Čukure

    For me as communication and PR student this was an amazing catalogue of previously studied theories.
    Of course, each of the section would call for more deeper insight, but as mentioned - good way how to refresh already known theories and good inspiration to check out some “unheard” ones.
    The BIG bonus - visualisations :) Truly good “summary” of theory with some good sarcasm pitch. :)

  • Ted

    Worth reading and then getting obsessed with reading deeper into the subjects brought up.

  • Apeksha Mehta

    Few chapters were helpful but most of the things mentioned in this book are known facts by everyone.

  • Vlad-Marius Griguta

    Introductory book into some generic theories of communication, reasoning and debating. There were some nice reminders of the works of Kahneman, the ancient Greeks and alikes, but for the theories that I haven't hear of I could not grasp the ideas behind them in the couple of paragraphs format they were presented. When I bought the book (for quite a price), I thought I would use it as a reference for immersing into the theories, but the fact that the ideas are so succinct somehow defeats the purpose since I could not really discriminate between them.

  • Rohit Karmali

    What a week it has been! Swimming from fiction to reality and then dreams is like a journey on top of a never ending mountain. Shall we waste any more time on wavering here and there?

    1. COVER

    Simple and Amazing. These are the two words which come to mind when you look at the cover and as the title itself states , communication is the thing displayed by this book , seeking one's attention and pulling one closer to it.

    2. CONTENT

    The book is amazing. The way of explaining all the complex behaviours during communication through simple and everyday language is an upmost feat undertaken by the duo and let me make this clear, if you are a fan of TED Talks and do not even have the slightest idea about Mr. Mikael Krogerus and Mr. Roman Tschäppeler then it is a shame on you. I mean, the concept of explaining a plethora of problems in this world using only an old school blackboard and some chalks is an amazing job. This world is crowded by blasphemy and stupidity and the way these guys have churned out information and knowledge and have presented before us is just an amazing and orphic task!

    3. MODELS

    A special mention should be given here because the whole book is only about this. When you have a first look, it may seem like puny children diagrams , but when you look at the explanation they want to convey closely, you see the beauty of it.

    4. FINAL VERDICT

    Communication as we know may seem just simple , but when the time comes we all just seem so lost and don't know what to do. I am not saying that we are dumb people, but if we talk about the little things and as we can all see , this book is nothing but a collection of previously tried out and tested models , which are prone to give you accurate results. Be it your first interview or your everyday conversation with your spouse, we can all be better if we just paid a tad bit more attention and humbleness towards the world and ourselves!

    HAPPY READING 📖📖🙌🙌!!

  • Ammar Sheikh

    The Communication Book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their communication skills and have more productive, meaningful conversations and this book provides 44 concrete ideas for having better conversations, each presented in a brief, easy-to-read format.

    ⚡ One particular idea from the book is the importance of being mindful of body language and nonverbal cues in communication. Krogerus suggests paying attention to posture, eye contact, and facial expressions, as these can all convey meaning and impact the way a message is received.

    Here are few key ideas from this book.

    ⚡ Use "I" statements to express your own thoughts and feelings, rather than placing blame on others.

    ⚡ Practice empathy by trying to understand the perspective of the person you are speaking with.

    ⚡ Avoid interrupting others while they are speaking.

    ⚡ Seek to understand the underlying needs and motivations of the person you are communicating with.

    ⚡ Use open-ended questions to encourage more in-depth conversation.

    ⚡ Be aware of your own biases and strive to be open-minded when communicating with others.

    ⚡ Practice clear and concise communication by avoiding jargon and using simple language.

    ⚡ Pay attention to your tone of voice and try to be mindful of how it may be perceived.

    ⚡ Allow for silence in conversation, as it can give both parties time to think and process.

  • Hazlitt

    ~ An insightful book dealing with various aspects of connections. Probably by hopping into this book one can discover certain intriguing stuff from it. As it engages with some significant communication concepts and frameworks, it is also a solid mass communication book and delivers many great social communication strategies simultaneously.

    ~ A book that is bit-sized which exposes 44 communication ideas that readers can employ to build rapport in their daily living.
    However, the notion detailed is quite minimal with attractive illustrations (3 pages apiece), so even though they are quite succinct, the ideologies sound influential.

    ~ The communication topics covered in this book related to are parted into 4 that are as follows:

    1. Job and Career
    2. Self and Knowledge
    3. Love and Friendship
    4. Words and Meanings

  • Sadiqa Ismail

    A wonderfully selected collection of well sourced and excellently explained communication theories. I loved the illustrations and the length of each of the explanations. They were concise and relevant and added an extra 'Oomph'. The entire book was well thought of and well structured and all were put forward in a very easy to follow and implement manner. I liked that it seemed like a coffee table book in the sense that you could open it and start reading at each chapter. That makes it a lot more approachable for most people. It couldn't be faulted, and the individual theories in the book can be critiqued separately, but the authors did justice in explaining and putting them forward in the most digestable and applicable way.

  • Geanina Ambrus

    🌈Am luat cărțulia asta din aeroport, cu gandul s-o fac carte de vacanță. Da' nu-i doar o carte, e o biblie!! Biblia Comunicării în 200 de pagini, presărate cu exemple cât se poate de pragmatice și ilustrații deștepte.
    📍Principiile negocierii
    📍comunicarea interculturală
    📍 spirala tăcerii
    📍 the Game Theory
    📍minciunile albe
    📍 analiza tranzacțională
    📍 fenomenul FOMO
    Toate astea, într-un format for dummies, extrem de ușor de citit și înțeles de orice non-specialist care-și dorește să comunice "intenționat" (intentional), cu maxim de eficiență. 😉
    💯👌💞E o cărțulie din seria Penguin Business la care îți garantez că ai să revii cu plăcere!

  • Yeling

    I loved this book. Recently I realised that it’s difficult to find enough time to sit down and finish a huge chunk of book, so this being bite-sized is really useful. I can just open it up, read up on a few ideas, then get back to it again when I have the time to.

    It also dissects huge philosophical ideas into simpler ones so it’s easy to understand, and to act upon in our daily lives. I can’t find anything I dislike about this book at all!

  • Amogh Ayya

    Unlike the other books in the series, this book had a lot of theoretical aspects to it rather than the practical applications. There are quite a few good models in this book, which after application seem to be useful for me personally. But the book itself didn't introduce how could someone actually apply the various models. I'd recommend the book, based on personal experience, as a one time read with probably only a few models that'll really stand out.

  • Nicole Bernadette Bernadette

    The authors were able to describe all 44 theories/models/rules succinctly; each chapter was very easy to understand. Although the ideas lacked depth, I think this book provides a useful, broad overview of some popular theories in the area of communications, relations, and media.

    As a communications major in university, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their theoretical knowledge with regards to communication.

  • Kai Knetsch

    I didn't really get much out of this book. It kind of just skims the surface of other people's work. Each of the 44 ideas is only 2 pages long (on my eReader) so it's really just a quick summary of the idea. There aren't any in depth examples or discussions to sink the idea into your head. There's a couple good tips here and there but that's it. I did like the "sum up a whole life in six words" chapter and also the story about Euathlus and Protagoras (Sophists).

  • Emilia

    idk man, this was more of a cheat sheet than actually educating. All of these topics need more in-depth elaboration. The whole time i felt like i could almost touch it, (what he‘s trying to say) but then the topic just ended i was left clueless. Also some of these were paradox to other topics that just didn‘t make sense for me. I was left with more questions than answers. For 20€ this was a huge disappointment.

  • Sofia

    In my self-help (not that I need it, of course) era-- that being said a lot of "self-help" books and such are such a bore or too dense to stomach, but this is perfect. Succinct, clear, and the pertinent quotes at the end of each chapter are the cherry on top. You could honestly read this in one sitting.

    I learned a lot -- don't let this review fool you, I swear I know how to communicate better now.

  • JP

    The book create a mixed response to readers, If you are fiction reader this book may look interesting but to other the topic discussed was not discussed properly..
    It's more like a Dictionary just give meaning but fail to deliver the required stuff..
    It's an travel read and nothing else..
    Positive side two chapter
    Small talk
    The Speech Act Theory
    was good to read..

  • Emma Harpham

    Covers a wide range of communications, linguistics and media theories without going into much depth - great to pick up on a whim, but probably more interesting if you haven’t got some background in communication studies. I felt it lacked real life examples and applications as well, considering the title frames the book as a tool for having ‘better conversations every day’..!

  • Apoorv Gupta

    I suppose the idea of only touching upon communication principles might not have gone well with people who were hoping to understand them to the point of practicality.
    I myself didn't have trouble grasping the ideas in the text.
    I hope the illustrations were better and illustrious!

    All in all, a decent handbook/reference on communication, to keep in the Kindle or office.

  • Irina

    Short and to the point. The chapters could be a little longer, in my opinion. And we get it - you don't like President Trump. Do you have to bring him as an example to all things bad? Especially when there are so many bad examples on the Democrat side... it's a book about communication ideas, not politics.