WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR

Book Description

The nation's premier communications expert shares his wisdom on how the words we choose can change the course of business, of politics, and of life in this countryIn Words That Work, Luntz offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the tactical use of words and phrases affects what we buy, who we vote for, and even what we believe in. With chapters like "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" and "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century," he examines how choosing the right words is essential.Nobody is in a better position to explain than Frank Luntz: He has used his knowledge of words to help more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies grow. He'll tell us why Rupert Murdoch's six-billion-dollar decision to buy DirectTV was smart because satellite was more cutting edge than "digital cable," and why pharmaceutical companies transitioned their message from "treatment" to "prevention" and "wellness."If you ever wanted to learn how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket or talk your way into a raise, this book's for you.

Customer Reviews:

Books That Waste Time.......2007-10-23

Having heard Luntz interviewed on Talk Radio several times, I thought this might be just the book to give me insight into the word smithing that goes on behind the scenes in politics.

Unfortunately, Luntz' writing style is bland, droll, and boring. So much so, that the reader's mind wanders almost immediately.

Perhaps there was an unimaginable recovery after the first forty or so pages, but I find it highly unlikely.

In summation, when I finish a book I deliberately leave it where someone else can find and hopefully enjoy it. With Luntz' book, I threw it in the garbage.

Great Book.......2007-10-07

Frank Luntz does a great job of driving across that it's not what you say, it's what people hear. Although the book had a lot of political references, the lessons to effective language can be applied to any walk of life.

Luntz's "1984".......2007-09-30

If you want to know how you are being manipulated, Frank Luntz will tell you how he does it in his candid book.

Clear. Concise. Comprehensive........2007-09-28

Dr. Luntz illustrates his 10 Rules of Effective Language in the subtitle of his book Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear. His 10-rule, 10-word system proves the power of language.

Disturbingly accurate examples show the impact and importance of language. What gets wired in us and why? What moves us emotionally? What makes us spend? What connects us? Words are ripples.

Lutz reveals how we get so caught up in words that we fail to communicate. Consider leaders who speak in alphabet soup and spoil our language and understanding.

Like fine embroidery, words follow design; and design is seen differently by everyone with eyes.

Using case studies as examples, Luntz makes points about how passage of time affects words, how disordered words can cause dissension and how new words shade new meanings.

Most of all, he states, what we say is who we are. He's right. Think about it.

Rebecca Jacoby, copywriter
www.afewchosenwords.com
www.beckyjacoby.com

Brevity as an Effective Communication Skill (would that it were!).......2007-09-10

Mr. Luntz sites brevity as an effective communication skill, yet he goes on and on and on with his examples and repeats himself throughout the book.

He uses the book as a vehicle to promote his Republican platforms, which is boring and annoying.

He is a little impressed with himself and is not afraid to share that with the reader. An especially distasteful example of this is his self-serving introduction about performing for Democrats and celebrities at Ariana Huffington's home.

He tries to imitate Steven Levitt's style of writing but he's just not that interesting or cool.

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

very clear
a gem
Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian
How Style Ought to Be Taught
Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2nd Edition)
Joseph M. Williams
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321330854

Book Description

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace reflects the wisdom and clear authorial voice of Williams best-selling book, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, while streamlining every chapter to create a very brief, yet powerfully direct guide to writing with style. The brevity and clarity of this book make it a quick and ideal read for freshman composition courses, as well as for writing courses across the disciplines. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace covers the elemental principles of writing that will help students diagnose their prose quickly and revise it effectively. The ten lessons feature principles of effective prose written in William's hallmark conversational style, offering reason-based approaches, rather than hard and fast rules, for successful, effective writing.

Customer Reviews:

very clear.......2006-08-14

I am a non native speaker, and even though my grammar is not too bad, my writing style has always been a source of frustration. At work, when comparing the texts I would write with the one of good native writers, I could see that theirs were better, but could not find why.
I bought this book based on the high reviews it got on amazon, and I was not disappointed. After reading a few pages, I scanned the research proposal I was writing at the time, and could already make significant improvements on it. The advices that the author give are sometimes quite simple, especially at the beginning of the book (for example : the main character should be the subjects of the verbs, which themselves should correspond to the main action). But surprisingly, I realized that I was rarely applying these simple rules of clarity. The author is never dogmatic, and insists that the only thing that matters is that the reader easily understands what we're writing. All throughout the book, numerous examples illustrate the concepts just introduced so that it is quite easy to test whether one has really got the point.

a gem.......2006-07-21

I found an used copy of " The Basics of Clarity and Grace" at bookstore. After reading 3/4 of the book I ordered two more copies. One copy for my son who is a journalist major and the other for my eldest son who writes good comedy. I liked its size and its no nonesense approach.

Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian.......2005-12-19

The longer version of Joseph Williams "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace" has been justly praised for many years. But as a director of writing programs at NYU, Princeton, and Yale, I never felt right adopting that text: it was too expensive, and more than the average student needed. This "Basics" Style is the perfect solution. All the brilliance of the longer book at 1/3 the price, "Style" perfectly balances explanations of style rules with practical examples. The rules that Strunk and White encourage are good ones, and American prose would be leaner if their precepts were universal. The problem with that book is that the advice is not explained systematically. You can use their suggestions when you face similar cases, but only Williams' text breaks down topics like elegance, coherence, and cohesion in ways that will let you carry the ideas into every text you write. I would not recommend this book for the casual 10th grader; although it's clearly written, its ideas are somewhat advanced. But for professionals, college writers, and any teenager who takes writing seriously, "Style" is an indispensable tool, a book you'll use for the rest of your life. For learning to write good college papers, I also highly recommend his "Craft of Research."

How Style Ought to Be Taught.......2005-07-13

Teaching style is not an easy task. Just look at the number of books on the market that portend to do this task, and it becomes obvious that not all authors succeed in their efforts. Some manuals attempt to teach by rules, others by persuasion, and still others by example. This book takes all three approaches and illustrates that the art of stylistic writing is a matter of know-how. Unlike most books in the field, I find this one generally successful.

The book's method is heuristic. It begins with causes of bad writing, and progresses to clarity, cohesion, emphasis, coherence, concision, length, and elegance. Each principle is given a bad examples compared to a good one. Direct, subject-verb-object writing is extolled, and certain anathemas of other texts are approved under the right circumstances. While I disagree with one its principles: That it is acceptable to begin a sentence with "There" and "It," these are minor quibbles in an otherwise strongly argued case.

Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" now has a major competitor, and this book is it. Whether one writes in fiction or non-fiction, the principles and examples given throughout this book are to be commended. I know of one author, a philosopher, who took these principles to heart. What once was ambiguous and contorted writing is now lucid, clear, and vivid. If this book can make this kind of progress, I certainly recommend it to all writers.

While on the subject of good writing, I also recommend Corbett's "Classical Rhetoric" for those authors who want to write convincing arguments. One on style, the other on substance. While William's book on style will make prose more readable, Corbett's book will make it more intelligible.

Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book.......2004-01-24

This smallish book summarizes and updates "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (7th Edition)." I rank both books at least a "5 out of 5" ranking. I bought the "Style: Ten Lessons" book first and after reading his previous book, I wanted more from this author. This new book is a fitting treat; it is destined to be a classic in the field of writing.

This smaller 150 page book presents many easy-to-apply principles and, for me, were easier to understand.

The principles that I liked most were:

+ How nominalizations can be very good or very bad, depending on their purpose, or lack of it.
+ How to re-arrange sentences putting the new and most important ideas on the end; thus sometimes flipping the sentence around and making good use of the passive tense.
+ The importance of aligning the characters of your story with the subjects of your sentences, and using active verbs to make "interesting subjects do interesting things."
+ Why and how to keep the distance between subject, verb and object short.

There are many, many other writing principles that you will find very useful. Although this book is written for someone with writing experience, a beginner will also find it MOST helpful.

I recommend any budding writer to buy both books. The bigger, older book has more discussion. But I found this smaller, newer book easier to read and understand. I'm now reading his Craft of Research book, and it looks like a winner too.

This is an author whose books you should collect. He has become a highly recommended expert in the field of writing. Look at the reviews of the bigger book to see what others are saying. I am so happy that I found his books.

Book Description

This best-selling text is more than a comprehensive introduction for the business writing course; it also serves as a post-college reference tool for students launching their careers. Successful Writing at Work takes a practical approach to prepare students for the wide array of communication tasks they will face on the job. The text is recognized for its abundance of realistic situations and problems, broad range of real-world examples, and detailed guidelines for drafting, editing, and producing professional documents and graphics.

To facilitate learning, the text is organized into four sections that build logically and sequentially. Part 1 introduces the basics: keys to effective writing, ethics, the writing process, and collaborative writing. Part 2 explores such simple business writing tasks as memos, types of business letters, emails, and how to conduct a job search. Part 3 covers the fine points of conducting research and documenting sources. Part 4 details more complex business communication activities, from designing visuals and web sites to writing proposals, drafting short and long reports, and making oral presentations.

New! Updated technology coverage includes researching with electronic and online resources; writing for the web; creating visually effective web sites; using computer programs such as PowerPoint and Corel Draw to enhance oral presentations; and learning new technologies that continue to change the way people communicate in the workplace.
New! Added writing instruction covers how to prepare news releases in the chapter on Summarizing Material, and instructions for policies and regulations in the chapter on Writing Instructions. The Documenting Sources chapter features up-to-date coverage of MLA and APA documentation styles.
New! Up-to-date, thought-provoking approaches to business writing include enhanced coverage of thinking globally and multiculturally when communicating in various business contexts and engaging new real-world examples that demonstrate the kinds of situations students will face on the job.
New and Updated! Tech Notes throughout the text show students how technology can be used in various types of business communication.
This edition retains the text's hallmark features: strong coverage of the writing process, ethics in the workplace, and audience analysis and writing for various audiences.
Assignments and descriptions put students in a workplace mindset by asking them to imagine themselves in such roles as a customer service representative, web site designer, or job candidate.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent writing tool.......2002-04-03

Whether you are a novice at writing or just need help wording documents, this book is a wonderful guide. Samples are plenty, complete from determining who is your audience to effective guidelines and checksheets. You will learn simple editing techniques, exercises for practice. Extensive guidelines are given whether you do a resme, letter, research, short and long reports, proposal, charts, etc. Included, also is some instruction on technical writing (manuals, visuals, figures, etc.)

Amazon.com

Let's get one thing straight: Carl Hiaasen doesn't like the Walt Disney Company. Whenever the giant entertainment conglomerate stumbles, as it did with its proposed Civil War theme park in Virginia, Hiaasen cheers. When a rhinoceros mysteriously dies at Disney's new theme park, Animal Kingdom, Hiaasen secretly hopes for the worst, because, as he writes, "no scandal is so delectable as a Disney scandal."

A native of Florida, author of such thrillers as Lucky You and Strip Tease, and a journalist for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen comes by his dislike for Disney honestly. He has witnessed the relentless success of the Disney machine firsthand with the development of Disney World and other properties around Orlando. In Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, Hiaasen paints a witty and sarcastic portrait in this nonfiction account of a company who can control the press, manipulate local governments, and because it's Disney, get away with it. Team Rodent is a quick, entertaining read that even the most loyal Disney shareholder (except maybe Michael Eisner) will find enlightening and amusing. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work."
--from TEAM RODENT

TEAM RODENT
How Disney Devours America

"Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."

Customer Reviews:

could have been great . . . but isn't.......2007-07-20

I've never read anything else by Carl Hiaasen, but I know that he's a well-regarded novelist, and judging from the quality of (most of) his prose is this extended essay, it's a well-deserved reputation.

However, this book falls way short of the mark if you consider its aim to be exposing the Disney coprporation as a monstrous devourer of world culture. There's nothing fundamentally flawed with Hiaasen's approach -- he just didn't go far enough.

Look, I'm a Disney fan. I've got a Disney DVD collection consisting of nearly 100 titles, a soundtrack CD collection of nearly as many, and I've been to the Florida theme parks nine times. I've also got a decent collection of books about the place, which is what led me to "Team Rodent." So count me firmly in the pro-Disney column. That doesn't mean that I'm going to blindly lash out at anti-Disney material, however, especially if it's well-researched and fair-handed.

I'm not sure that Hiaasen's book is either. He obviously despises Disney and all that they represent, but he can't really seem to come up with a reason -- good, poor, or otherwise -- WHY he hates Disney. He spends the first few pages talking about Disney's store in Times Square and its proximity to smut shops, and praises the smut shops in comparison -- not for their virtues in and of themselves, which he seems to find nonexistent, but for the mere fact that they represent the dark underbelly of life that has no place in Disney's world. Hiaasen's beef seems to lie is his assertion that Disney is attempting to clean up the entire world by virtue of selling its brand of purity across the globe. But why is this a problem? Obviously, that dark underbelly of base human desire and wants -- which probably ARE essential to our very natures in some way -- can never and will never be purged. It's not like Disney is attempting to purge it (except maybe from Times Square, according to the book), so why should people despise Disney for providing a safe haven for people to avoid the seamier side of life? Hiaasen's argument, such as it is, makes little sense.

The worst section of the book relates the sad tale of a female rhinoceros purchased by Disney for its Animal Kingdom theme park. The rhino died in captivity, and the autopsy revealed that the death was caused by infection resultant from a large piece of wood having been forcibly put into the rhino and left there in a place where no foreign object belonged. It was also proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this had happened prior to Disney's purchase of the rhino, and that it was IN NO WAY Disney's fault. Hiaasen points all of this out, and yet the tone of his writing makes it very plain that he wants us to associate this tragedy with Disney; he actually wishes that it HAD been Disney's fault. This is the worst kind of muck-raking.

That's not to say that the book is all of that type, however. There are good passages about raunchy lyrics on a Disney-released CD, and a couple of scary parts about Disney security. It's obvious that the Disney company has made some serious mistakes in its history, and all of those stories deserve to be told.

But make no mistake. This book, though entertaining and easy to read, is overpriced, underresearched, and deficient in its reasoning. It is a screed, nothing more. That it is a screed with at least some basis in truth, and one written by an obviously talented writer, makes it of moderate interest . . . but that's ALL it is.

The definitive anti-Disney tome has yet to be written, as far as I know. When it is finally produced, I will welcome it with great interest.

Upset by Disney urbanizing the State.......2007-04-17

A novelist and Florida columnist laments the overwhelming presence of the Walt Disney Company, especially in his state.

Hiaasen blames Disney for the ugly sprawl that is Orlando while pointing out that Disney World itself is not subject to urban planning regulations. On this count he is accurate. When Disney moved in, all land they purchased seemed to be exempt from many regulations. But as much as he laments on the evils of the Mouse, the largest damage is done by all the smaller companies that build up around Disney to take advantage of the millions of tourist flocking to the Magic Kingdom.

But he fails to mentions all the jobs they provide. Though many employees say they do not like their rules and regulations. All successful companies must have them, especially when your business is the entertainment and safety of children. And lets be clear, all children love the Disney experience.

Hiaasen asserts that Disney building their store was the genesis that cleaned up Time Square in New York. While in truth, they only agreed to open their store if Giuliani promised and followed through to clean up that part of town. And the Mayor was able to accomplish the required goals, at least on the surface.

It is worth reading, but it is not up to his normal standards. It would have been better if the author used his investigative skills to gather some facts. This small book it is a very short and easy read. There is strong language.

Not at all what I expected.......2007-03-22

To begin with, it was a lot shorter read than I had hoped. For the price of the book, it seemed more like a phamphlet than a book.

Secondly, it certainly wasn't very Hiaasen-like. As an admirer of his fiction, it seemed that he abandoned his writing style for this book. It appeared to be more of a personal rant than an enlightening look at Team Rodent.

Just the thing to read while you wait for the parade!.......2007-01-11

The basic premise of this little treatise is solid. The Walt Disney Company is too big for its britches, too controlling, to paranoid and just not as good for society as they'd like you to think. Okay, so a few more details to back all of that up would be nice. But too many details would probably make this book far less readable and not nearly as enjoyable.

To be fair, Carl Hiassen lays a lot of the damage wreaked on his beloved state of Florida on the neighbors that Disney attracts. Of course, as Hiassen points out, the mouse guys insulate themselves with a healthy buffer of manicured "wilderness" between them and their lower class hangers-on like the outlet malls, themed dinner theaters and miniature golf courses. But he rightfully takes Team Rodent to task for their anal desire to control the information and image that filters out of their controlled environment in exchange for gazillions of dollars from tourist and entertainment seeker wallets.

Even though this book is almost 9 years old, Hiassen's wit and style make it an enjoyable (albeit a very quick 83 page read). If anything, time has simply validated a lot of the points that he makes. Something tells me that you won't find it at many bookstores in "the World" as they like to call it, so order it before you head to Orlando. And just for fun, make a show of reading it on one of the benches at EPCOT.

Fundimentally flawed, but a fun think piece........2006-07-22

In Team Rodent, Carl Hiaasen delivers an honestly entertaining picture of his own reservations at what he sees as the Disney Corporation's attempts at becoming a culturally omnipotent force. This piece is more of a political pamphlet in format: it's too long to be considered a simple essay, but it's certainly short enough to be read in a single sitting.

As I suggest in the title of my review, Hiaasen's biggest issue with this piece is the fundimental flaws that underlie this work. Hiaasen's thesis isn't really much of a thesis at all: Disney sucks, and they're gradually taking over the world. Whether or not Disney sucks is certainly a matter of taste. The largest part of Disney's product and service line is devoted towards entertainment for children and families, which is naturally not the preferred choice of entertainment for intelligent, literate adults, myself included. No one is obliged to love Mickey Mouse. If a parent who dislikes Mickey finds themselves buying products bearing Mickey and Co., it's certainly regrettable but they're hardly the only parents who have found themselves suckered into supporting obnoxious and bewildering children's entertainment.

Whether Disney is taking over the world is yet again a matter of perspective. Disney certainly acts like the megacorporation that it is, but it's hardly the only megacorporation out there. This doesn't necessarily exempt Disney from well-intentioned criticism, and Hiaasen does present some fairly potent items: Disney's maintenance of an autonomous hegemony over its occupied land in Central Florida, the notorious dictatorial micromanagement of now-former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, Disney's shoddy business practices and shady legal dealing surrounding its 1980s Country Walk housing development, and Disney's ethically sketchy policies of bribery for positive news coverage, among others.

Yet, some of Hiaasen's criticisms seem misdirected, if not elusive. Hiaasen spends the early part of the book bemoaning the notorious Disneyfication of Times Square, and seems to place the blame squarely on Disney for this. Yet, he ignores the facilitation of the Disney takeover through Rudolph Giuliani's policies, which it could be argued are vastly more malignant than the simple presence of a Disney Store on the Great White Way.

Hiaasen also points to the example of the Insane Clown Posse's short-lived recording career with a Disney-owned record label. Hiaasen does little here but muddle his point--he certainly dislikes Disney's Bowdlerization of culture for blatant kiddie-centric consumerism, but he sees nothing hypocritical in ridiculing Disney for both releasing and recalling the Insane Clown Posse. Hiaasen neither advances nor supports any clear, cogent points other than his distaste for rap music and his drive to engage in gleeful schadenfreude against Disney whether it's journalistically sensible or not.

In yet another part of the book, Hiaasen criticizes the opening of a Disney cruise line which docks at a private island which had previously been used as a stopover for drug smugglers (which it should be noted, obviously had no connection to Disney's later purchase of the island). Hiaasen criticizes Disney for providing a tourism option so far removed from the actual cultural environment of the Carribean, but it seems unlikely that Disney would be making unrealistic promises of an authentic Carribean cultural experience. Even Jamaica, an island noted for its poverty and unrest, has sanitized resorts just as far from authentic as the Disney experience, operated by companies with no relationship with Disney.

Hiaasen makes it clear that he finds the environment around Disney World to be ugly, describing the tourist-oriented sprawl of central Florida. Yet, just as ugly would be a Florida deprived of the jobs which Disney supports--Sure, Disney is a big, soulless company, but they are a massive force in the Florida economy, likely providing the livelihood for any number of families.

It should be noted that, despite these flaws, the book does not suffer from lack of readability. Hiaasen is engaging with his material, despite the problematic nature of his core ideas. His descriptions of his experiences at a Disney-sponsered press event featuring a journalist who faced KGB detention in the Soviet Union. Hiaasen's work would have made a much better long magazine article than a book, but it's still very enjoyable.

If you're fond of relatively skilled op-ed writing, Hiaasen's work here is certainly worth prerusal. This is not a piece of investigative journalism per-se, and there are many better examples of extensive critical writings on Disney corporate culture. Hiaasen's book is at least worthwhile as a quick and easily digestible version of the arguments.

Average customer rating:

gregg ref
The Best Grammar/Usage Book Ever
Recommendations for Students Entering the Secretarial Field
All arguments stop here
A good everyday reference tool, but...

The Gregg Reference Manual
William A Sabin
Manufacturer: Career Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0028040481

Book Description

The Gregg Reference Manual 9e by William Sabin is intended for anyone who writes, edits, or prepares material for distribution or publication. For nearly fifty years, this manual has been recognized as the best style manual for business professionals and for students who want to master the on-the-job standards of business professionals.

Customer Reviews:

gregg ref.......2007-01-20

bought this copy for my daughter. she wishes she'd had it years earlier. loves it.

The Best Grammar/Usage Book Ever.......2006-05-18

I retired a few years ago and wish that I had taken my Gregg Reference Manual with me as a "parting gift." I used to take calls from people regarding grammar questions. Little did they know I would grab this book and easily page to the correct answer. I impressed many people over the years; and then, of course, the answers became second nature to me. I have recommended this book many times and finally am going to purchase my own copy for home. It is a good book just to read. Absolutely EVERYTHING is in there.

Recommendations for Students Entering the Secretarial Field.......2004-07-29

As a business education teacher, I highly recommend this reference manual to anyone entering the secretarial field. It provides a complete source for answering questions concerning grammar, punctuation, English usage, etc. The well-done index allows easy access to the needed information. It is an absolute MUST for office employees. Eva Lewis, El Cajon, CA

All arguments stop here.......2004-04-14

I am an independent corporate trainer who teaches people to write better at work. When my students ask me for my advice about good books to guide them as they write at work, this is the reference book I recommend.

I also tell them several other things about the book. First, this is not just some handbook that secretaries can use to look up how to format a letter. It is an authoritative reference for all aspects of writing English. It should be next to the dictionary and thesaurus on the shelf of everyone who needs to write at work, from clerks to executives. Second, if your boss or anyone else argues with you about any rule of writing, you only have to point to the relevant entry in this book. All arguments stop there. Third, the size of the book is deceptive. It uses small font and thin paper. With normal font and paper, it would be the size of two or three large dictionaries. That's how much useful stuff is packed in this book.

It takes a while to get used to how the information in the book is formatted, but it is well worth the effort. All entries in the index include page numbers as well as topic numbers, which they call "rules." The book is logically structured around these rules, and it makes related topics easy to find.

I rated this book 5 stars because I think it is superior in all categories for a reference book: comprehensive content, abundant examples, thorough index, authoritative author, and reasonable price.

A good everyday reference tool, but..........2003-04-09

This manual is a great tool with easy to locate information and a wealth of information; it is not, however, the end-all of writing. It is a good business writing manual, but to an English student and editor, it falls rather short. For example, Sabin's advice on generic pronouns and gender may suit a business proposal with "his or hers" and "he or she" littering the page, but in the humanities, this is becoming less and less acceptable. Items such as this seem unimportant only until you need them.

The GRM is a fine grammar manual if needed only for occasional use casually and in business situations, but for intense scrutiny, it wouldn't be my first choice.

Average customer rating:

Hits the mark--and helps you hit it, too

The Book Does Work

My Students Love it Too!

What Works "Works"!

Business Writing: What Works, What Won't
Wilma Davidson
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312109482

Book Description

A thorough, accessible, and results-oriented guidebook intended for today's business environment, Business Writing: What Works, What Won't offers the first and last word on writing memos, business letters, reports, and all other kinds of business documents. Wilma Davidson, a veteran corporate writing coach whose clients have included MM Mars, Johnson Johnson, Anheuser-Busch, and several other, Fortune 500 companies, uses clear and memorable examples, charts, cartoons, and anecdotes to convey exactly what succeeds-and what fails-in written business communication. This new edition of Business Writing has been fully revised and updated to cover e-mail, Palm Pilots, and the latest in word processor technology. It will be an indispensable reference for all students of business and management-a book that answers questions about style, provides guidance in matters of grammar, and reveals countless insights about writing with precision, confidence, humor, and eye-catching effectiveness.

Customer Reviews:

Hits the mark--and helps you hit it, too.......2007-07-28

Wilma Davidson's _Business Writing: What Works, What Won't_ is that rare book that fully addresses its title's premise. This book will have you writing more effective business correspondence and documents right away.

As a freelance commercial writer, my work depends on skillfully communicating on point. This book shows how to do just that. Davidson minces no words, either. She finds the current state of business writing deplorable, filled with pointless buzzwords, passive voice, data overload, and too much pomposity. She gears her book to addressing those major problems and does so effortlessly.

You'll learn how to

* Restructure documents for quick reading
* Tighten sentences and paragraphs by eliminating extraneous words and phrases
* Use "real English" instead of business buzzwords that hinder communication
* Move from dull, passive voice to a more natural active voice that holds readers' attention
* And much more.

Best of all, the author provides numerous outstanding examples of the distinctions between poorly written documents and their more professionally written counterparts. The book includes quizzes, asking readers to fix broken paragraphs and sentences. Unlike some other books that test readers, Davidson provides her suggestions for those fixes so the reader isn't left to wonder what the repair might be. Her section on switching from passive to active voice may be one of the best I've ever read, offering illustrations and clever examples that help beginning business writers grasp the concept.

Considering I work as a writer and have read on the topic widely, it's a rarity for me to pick up a book on the subject of writing and say, "What a superlative book!" _Business Writing; What Works, What Won't_ is just that, and I recommend it without hesitation. If business writers read this book and put its recommendation into practice, we'll have a whole lot less of "It is suggested that we leverage a paradigm shift" and more of "Let's try a new direction."

The Book Does Work.......2006-12-01

Business Writing: What Works, What Won't is a business writing book that indeed does work very well. The author gets right to the point and gives just the right amount of information on most business writing aspects, with a terrific section on e-mail and letters. She uses humor throughout the guide, making an otherwise dry subject more entertaining. More importantly, the book is full of useful examples that illustrate the rule, technique, or principle discussed. For example, she doesn't just urge the reader to use the active voice, she includes almost a dozen examples of the proper way to use the active voice (and avoid the passive voice). Highly recommended.

My Students Love it Too!.......2003-04-21

The open, inviting and easy-to-read format was the first thing that attracted me to Wilma Davidson's book. Next was the content. She covers all the major areas that most people need to work on to become more effective and efficient writers. Her book provides solid, practical information right up front, with a of easy-to-understand examples. Last but not least is the endorsement given in the forward by Janet Emig, who revolutionized the approach to writing being taught in school systems around the world today. I use Business Writing, What Works What Wont to supplement the principles and techniques I teach in my writing workshop, which is aimed at professionals in technical fields, and they love it too, saying it is a great help and excellent resource.

What Works "Works"!.......2000-03-31

With business people today spending an average of 30% of their work time writing, this book offers simple techniques (along with practice situations) to make your message more clear and powerful. This book was helpful to me because most writing skills taught in business schools today are not comparable to the writing demands faced by these same students in the business world. This book also helped me discard my academic view that writing features lengthy paragraphs and big words and taught me to use concise paragraphs to get the job done. Look at me now! This review was originally five pages!

The Business Style Handbook: An A-to-Z Guide for Writing on the Job with Tips from Communications Experts at the Fortune 500

Average customer rating:

Read this if you write!
How the Business Style Handbook Helped Me
A writing handbook with cultural and social backgrounds
Precise and Easy.
Worth Recommending - especially to those who report to you

The Business Style Handbook: An A-to-Z Guide for Writing on the Job with Tips from Communications Experts at the Fortune 500
Helen Cunningham , and Brenda Greene
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0071382305

Book Description

In the everyday work world, most professionals are on their own when it comes to writing reports, memos, proposals, and other necessary correspondence. The Business Style Handbook is a practical and comprehensive guide that focuses specifically on the writing issues that frequently arise on the job. Insights and feedback from Fortune 500 communications executives provide tips and advice on improving writing style and effectiveness, while more than 1,200 alphabetized entries cover the essentials of style and usage, grammatical concepts, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Read this if you write!.......2005-02-11

For anyone who writes in a business environment-which is probably most people reading this-The Business Style Handbook is an extremely useful reference. I especially appreciated the introductory material, which provides the basis for great marketing copy for those of us who write and edit for a living. And it's a great relief to have a handy reference for handling all those marketing-speak and tech-speak neologisms and inconsistencies.

Plus this book is much more manageable in size and price than most writers' and editors' manuals, which few people besides professional writers and editors are going to be willing to invest in. I checked it out of the library first to see whether it was worth buying, and my conclusion was "Yes, definitely!"

How the Business Style Handbook Helped Me.......2005-01-19

I'm glad I had a copy of The Business Style Handbook when a big argument erupted in my department. One group said you have to write "an NYSE stock" while another said you have to write "a NSYE stock." I took out a copy of The Business Style Handbook (which my wife gave me for Christmas to help me improve my e-mail) to settle the dispute. By the way, it should be written "an NYSE stock." It's one of the first times I've been on the right side of a grammar argument.

A writing handbook with cultural and social backgrounds.......2004-07-08

A while ago, a friend asked me to review some business correspondence when I was in Beijing. Subsequently, I always thought that it would be helpful to find him some business writing reference books. When I came across The Business Style Handbook (in both English and Chinese), I recommended them to my friend.

The book is very practical. It differs from a regular dictionary in that it contains not only definitions for terms but also their cultural and social backgrounds. Look for the references for items such as 360-degree review, 401(k) or cookie. They are very helpful to people with different language backgrounds. Another advantage is the included examples, such as how to properly use kudos. Additionally, the first five chapters provide an excellent summary on modern business writing. In all, no matter it is for a beginner or as a reference, the book provides a lot of value to its readers.

Precise and Easy........2004-06-21

I write on tight deadlines and can't afford to make mistakes in the work I produce. This book is a big help. It is a valued resource for questions on grammar, spelling and pronunciation. And it is written in plain english; no need to wade through discussions on the fine points of grammar. It also makes a great gift.

Worth Recommending - especially to those who report to you.......2004-06-21

I spend a good deal of time at work writing documents and e-mails. When I have questions about how to write something correctly, The Business Style Handbook is my reference tool of first resort. Its focus on business and finance is invaluable. Where else could I quickly find out whether to use a hyphen in enterprise-wide or parentheses with 401 (k)? The chapter on e-mail is also useful, as is the information from the Fortune 500.
It is now suggested reading for the employees in our Fortune 500 company.

Great Personal Letters for Busy People: 501 Ready-to-Use Letters for Every Occasion

Average customer rating:

Amazing
Terrific resource

Great Personal Letters for Busy People: 501 Ready-to-Use Letters for Every Occasion
Dianna Booher
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0071464980

Book Description

Write the right letter or email--fast--with this handy reference guide

Since 1997, Dianna Booher’s Great Personal Letters for Busy People has been the go-to reference for anyone who is just too busy to sit down and write. The completely revised edition of this successful book updates all the letters and notes, making them ready to use for any business, personal, or social situation.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2006-02-24

I am a writer. I have written many letters for all sorts of reasons, so I thought, "How could someone write letters for me?" And then I opened the book. It was as if I had written the words on the pages. Amazing, truly amazing. I now have in my library a book that will save me hours in thinking up my own original version, and because letters now require much less time, I will be more likely to the send one that may otherwise have been put off. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Buy Dianna's book. Letters get action far more than phone calls or emails.

Terrific resource.......2006-01-28

Dianna Booher has compiled an exhaustive collection of sample letters. From the busy person who just needs some help getting started, to those who find themselves in a situation where they know something in writing is warranted but just can't seem to find the right words, this book is a tremendous help; the letters are long, detailed, and anticipate many different possible situations you might be facing. Even if you think you are already a good letter writer, you will find good ideas galore. A very good reference book for anyone's bookshelf.

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