Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

As an Executive Coach, I highly recommend Crucial Conversations. Many of my clients face the challenge of talking with their peers and/or direct reports on a daily basis. Most people don't handle those difficult conversations very well. This book gives great steps and info on how to go about treading through the difficult waters. I have purchased several copies of this book as gifts for clients. I am currently re-reading it in order to grasp and absorb the rich content.

I like this book a lot. Developed for business communication it has applications for many areas of life. I found it clear, instructive, insightful and relatively free of new-age doublespeak. I work in an ER and I communicate with angry people (sometimes including myself) in emotionally-charged situations on a daily basis. I find the techniques presented in this book quite practical.

For comparison I read a few of the negative reviews. Several of them dismiss this book as "common sense." I think they miss the point that common sense is not really all that common.

I have given this book to a number of people. It truly is a good read. Very helpful. For those of us that can be a bit timid....buy this book.

Helped having already attended a meeting in which some of these techniques had been use.

Nutshell review - You should read this book if you ever need to talk to anyone! Sooner or later you will benefit from the insights and techniques explained in this book to help you handle things when talking gets tough.