Working Woman's Communications Survival Guide: How to Present Your Ideas With Impact, Clarity and Power and Get the Recognition You Deserve

Like it or not, U.S. business culture reflects male standards and behavior. Women are pressured and expected to conform to that norm. And what's the price if you ignore the rules? You'll be left out in the cold.
This frank guide will take you step-by-step through this maze, and help you gain the assertiveness, poise, and confidence you need to break through the "glass ceiling" and get ahead in the male-dominated business world, without giving up your innate strengths and self-image.
You'll discover dozens of business-tested techniques and strategies that show you how to build your self-esteem and make it work for you: practical advice for enhancing your self-esteem and projecting your most powerful image ... a 7-step self-esteem building program; avoid speech patterns that make you seem like a lightweight: simple strategies for projecting a more authoritative voice ... sounding more confident ... and projecting body language that echoes success; deal with difficult people and trying situations: three ways to resolve conflicts ... tips for making confrontation work for you ... techniques for controlling back-stabbers, "yes-women," critics, and other problem people; use the art of negotiation and influence to get your way: power tools for getting your point across ... three rules for convincing adversaries ... nine ways to negotiating know-how; master the art of listening: proven reasons why women make better listeners ... three ways to make your responses show that you care ... practical techniques to increase your listening effectiveness; fire up your presentation skills: three tricks for taming fear ... nine ways to spicy and stylish presentations ... tips for getting the audience "hooked," keeping them interested, and creating inspiring endings ... as well as how to handle a heckler; find a mentor and use networking: what a mentor can do for you ... seven steps to creating a winning mentor/protege relationship ... proven strategies for successful networking.
Plus, you'll also find the SELF profile - a test for assessing your personality style, as well as dozens of quizzes, checklists, and real-life case histories showing these success techniques in action.
Today's business world is more competitive than ever - and what a woman doesn't know can cost her her career. This valuable guide provides all the tools you need to present your ideas effectively, project a powerful presence, and get the recognition you deserve!

Essentially a how-to manual for learning good business communication skills, this book was inspired by the author's seminars for working women. Each chapter begins and ends with the same quiz designed to gauge the reader's current level of business savvy, with lectures and case studies sandwiched in between. Attention is focused on the simplistic SELF profile, which places the reader in one of four personality types. If skimming the surface is what is needed, this book succeeds, covering everything from self-esteem, negotiations, listening skills, and mentoring to fighting sexual harassment. If more depth is desired, consider Pat Heim and Susan Golant's Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (LJ 7/92). Weakly recommended for high school and undergraduate libraries.
Nancy Myers, Univ. of South Dakota Lib., Vermillion
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A workbook in self-esteem differing from the typical self-help book in that it's geared to employment. Siress uses checklists, quizzes, and disguised real-life examples to aid women in climbing the career ladder with gusto and perhaps ease. A chapter on image presentation, for instance, warns against using faulty speech patterns (avoid you and substitute I) and body language. The section on negotiations defines three types of negotiators and explains how to win over adversaries. Although not based on an in-depth psychological probing, this guide provides womenand other new-to-the-workforce individualsthe skills to get what they want. Barbara Jacobs