...how to speak better - here a book is reviewed by Chris Garrah

 Speak With Confidence - A Personal Review  of Booher, Dianna Daniels 2003 book 

September 10, 2012

A  Book Review Chris Crispy Garrah

DOES IT HELP YOU OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF SPEAKING?

Definitely yes. I have to admit that when I was reading the 2003 version and there was a discussion of the fear of public speaking I almost stopped reading because I was starting to relive past episodes of fear of public speaking.  That is how powerful the fear of public speaking can be,

BUILD ON THE BOOKS WISDOM

Don't give up. There is deep insight into handle the fear. For example - what do you do when you see a group of people staring at you? Do you look at one person and onto the next and onto the next without really seeing them like I did? No, No. The book tells you to look at one person and make a point in your talk - then move onto talking to another person with another point. Can't you see how this would immediately give you a lot more confidence? - instead of glancing over everyone's face and possibly causing you to panic.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE BOOKS CONFIDENCE BUILDING

The book shows you how move on stage to give different emphasis - a different structure to the different parts of your speech. Because I did not author the book I am only going to say that you need to read the book.

EXCELLENT AS A REFERENCE ON PUBLIC SPEAKING

I could see that someone could be intimidated by the book because there is a lot of material. Instead look at it another way. There is a lot of material that is going to make you a GREAT speaker. ... and the more material -well -the more you got for your money . The author is authority on public speaking after all. But that only means you have found a great reference book on public speaking. Here is an opportunity for everyone to become a confident public speaker. I recommend that if you are a little scared to just read little sections at a time and apply them.

A Cow In the Parking Lot - A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger - a book review by Chris Garrah

The Cow in the Parking Lot -
A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

Discovering the Book

A book by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston 2010

Reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

The Cow In The Parking Lot - A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

 by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston                  

 

I discovered this book at the local library.  It was on a shelf that said it was a "pick of the library staff".   It is a self help book that I rate highly.  Why? Because it is a book for thinkers.  If you sometimes like to work your brain a little bit this is a book that with not much effort can reduce the amount of anger in your life.   And if you are thinking that anger in your life is a good thing , well, the book will have you reconsidering whether less anger in your life can be a good thing.

A Buddhist point of view in anger management

The book  approaches anger management from a Buddhist point of view.  The title is based on Buddhist thinking and it really will make you think twice about  whether you should get angry in different  situations.   The title is based on an analysis of someone stealing  your parking spot.

Reading the book has made me re-think  about what things make me become  angry.   This book has the power to improve your quality of life.   ...and for that reason I recommend you read it.   If you find yourself getting angry just as much after having read it then you still have the opportunity to take another look at the book!

Discovering and Fixing the Buttons that Make You Angry

I recall that a focus of the book is that a reader should write down what events  trigger you to get angry.   The book helps you find what "buttons" people can push to make you angry.  After helping you discover your "buttons"   the book helps you make those "buttons" become  smaller.

It is only a small task to read a book and write a report , but it is a much bigger task to write the book .  That is why I supply a link to the author's site to give the author his credit. Leonaard Scheff website

For more insights on self improvement stay on our site.  More Self Help Book Reviews by Chris Garrah

Comments are Welcome

If you are a fellow reader of similar type books or really any kind of non-fiction book I would love to hear from you and give a link here to your site if you have one.  Hope the book improves your life.

The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracey - a book review by Chris Garrah

The Psychology of Selling

Brian Tracey knows in depth the art of selling.   In this book he notes how important it is for sales people to keep self motivated.  He observes that salespeople who cannot accept rejection quickly can shorten their day calling on customers.  He shows the importance of a salesman bolstering his self confidence.

Affirmations and Visualization

Mr. Tracey recommends affirmations and reveals the affirmations and visualizations of a number one salesperson for a company.  Chapter by chapter the material is practical and geared towards the success of a salesperson.

Move to the Upper Level of Sales

Following this advice should have you move to the upper levels of sales - outperforming the vast majority of salespeople.  It's not easy to accept the rejection of a majority of contacts but Mr. Tracey gives you tools to keep your self confidence high.   Applying his psychology tools you will maintain a good frame of mind to continue making sales calls and succeeding instead of being immobilized before you go out on a call by the fear of rejection. The book covers the psychology of matching the benefits of your product to what the customer is looking for.   The information is concrete and not just a pep talk - there is substance in the information.

Book review of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business

Book Review of "Ultimate Guide to Linkedin for Business"

"How to Get Connected with 150 million + customers in 10 minutes" by Ted Prodromou (2012)

Reviewed by Chris Garrah on October 28, 2012

This book gives useful insight in how to use Linkedin in a way similar to Facebook.

The best insight I learned was that there are open net-workers called "LIONS "- short for Linkedin open net-workers that accept a large number of connections.  The open net-workers are people like recruiters and salespeople where success is a numbers game - where having a large number of contacts increase success in sales or recruiting.   But people on Linkedin as a group have a more serious inclination than the Facebook crowd - so having a large number of Linkedin connections builds you a solid network.  I have seen studies where a typical person usually only has time to interact with a small number of people.   But the open network and LION concept allows anyone who wants to to create a larger network.   Linkedin provides a  "social proof" as explained in the book - a way for your network to provide you with referrals.   This is a way that people who want references as in real life will seek you out and connect with you - a way to solidify and have a valuable network.

From a bloggers perspective

The book allows you as a web site operator to increase your SEO - tour search engine optimization because (unless I am mistaken) your search engine lifts you higher as a returned result if you are listed on Linkedin with many connections.  In one day by adding over a hundred connections of fellow LIONS) which you can search on Linkedin I noticed when I googled my name that I moved up in search results compared to other people who shared the same name.   For googling keywords that appear in your blogs there could be a big difference in turning up in search results or being returned on a search page many page later - buried deep!

More about the book - Ultimate Guide to Linkedin for Business

There are 24 chapters worth exploring - so I am just skimming the surface.

The book has many insights into networking on Linkedin.  It is a resource book - really an ultimate guide as the title suggests.   A search on Amazon reveals a reasonable price as well.  To connect with the author here is the link to Ted Prodoromou

Book Review  Enchantment - The Art Of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions by Guy Kawasaki 2011

Reviewed by Chris Garrah November 3 , 2012

Well, who is Guy Kawasaki?

Guy Kawasaki is the former chief evangelist of Apple .  He describes himself this way so this gives the book credibility.  Also "Woz" gives an endorsement on the book cover.

The book describes a personal skill set that you can work at developing in the same manner as Dale Carnegies' "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

About Enchantment

Guy Kawaski in the book "Enchanted" describes not only personal traits to develop but all the steps a company and people need to use from the initial creation to developing the company product - to have enchantment embedded in the marketing of the company product.

Mr Kawasaki also explains how to use social media like Twitter, blogs and presentations in an "enchanted" way.

In totality the book has solid content .  If you worry that your eyes may have glazed over during parts of the book there is also a quiz at the back of the book to make sure you have not zoned out during the reading of the book.  In my case I was reassured by a satisfactory score - so I learned something.

Gateway to the author Guy Kawasaki

On the book cover we are given:  WWW.facebook.com/enchantment

Guy Kawasaki is the author of  at least 9 other books.   An enterpreneur in the book also recommends "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki.  That may be a book you the reader may like to explore.

Happy reading!

How to Become a Top Notch Programmer on Your Own!

How do you decide what to study - to be an in demand, rich  programmer? - by Chris Garrah 
June 30, 2013

Do you ever wander into a library or browse the internet and hope you find a computer language to study? What do you study?

One solution - try reading the  book called "The Passionate Programmer" by Chad Fowler.  Subtitle: Creating a Remarkable Career in Software Development.   The book is full of insights and tips on how to explore somputer programming in depth and how to make yourself a very valuable computer programmer.
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Sure it was written in 2009.  But it is written by a gifted saxophonist who studied the art of computer programming on his own.  When he was hired , he found he could run circles around formally trained programmers because he took the time to explore areas in depth and to constantly ask questions to dig deeper.   In his book Mr. Fowler fills in the details of how to achieve what he did in gaining an intimate understanding of programming and the areas to explore that can have a good reward for you.

Not sure what programming languages or areas to study?

The book discusses many areas - and there is a fair number of techno-speak - but how about starting  programming in Java or ".net".   To delve into it further try getting a copy of the book.  The book cover promotes it's author - "Chad Fowler is an internationally known software developer,trainer, manager, speaker and musician.

Dream Big! - Could reading and following this book  be a pathway to being a Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg?

Yes! If you find you love to program I recommend this book. The subtitle of the book shows what the book can help you find if you use the book to develop your passion for computer programming .... Here is the subtitle ...."creat(e) a remarkable career in software development.

Learning About Asperger Syndrome - Could illness turn you into a savant?

A review of Daniel Tammet's book "Born On a Blue Day" by Surfer Chris Garrah

Born On a Blue Day -  A Memoir of Aspergerès and an Extraordinary Mind by Daniel Tammet 2006

 

 

 

 

Why should you read Daniel Tammet's Memoir book?

So I was flipping through the Book "Born on a Blue Day" written by Daniel Savant.   He has Asperger syndrome but he also has an amazing ability with numbers and learning languages.   One condition he  has is synaesthesia which allows him to sees numbers much differently than the average person.  Synaesthesia could be described as a very rich multi-sensory and emotional experience of numbers.  In the book Daniel is able to describe the enriched awareness and uniqueness of different numbers.  He is able to describe how richly he sees the numbers and how different numbers affect his emotions differently.  He experiences each number in a variety of modes as if his sensory channels have been combined when experiencing numbers.

How amazing are Daniel's abilities?

His rich experience of numbers in mind allowed him to recite the number "pi" to 22,514 digits.  The sequence of numbers has a significance and multi-channel experience for him. Which explains how it is even possible to explain such an amaing feat of memorizing an amazingly long sequence of numbers. Daniel's gift of numbers allowed him to  raise funds to support epilepsy awareness.
It was after an epileptic bout that Daniel Tammett acquired his amazing abilities.

Also in the book

Daniel also describes his experience and ability counting cards in blackjack in Las Vegas and also his gift to quickly learn languages.

Daniel Tammet's full book title is:  Born on a Blue Day      A memoir of Asperger's and an Extraordinary Mind  published 2006

How to be a Publicist - one of the keys - a book review of writing effective News Releases

How to Get free publicity for yourself, Your Business , or Your Organization
A Book Review by Chris Garrah of Catherine V McIntyre's Book  - reviewed April 3, 2013

About the Book

The book was first published in 1992 and then a 2nd publishing in 2008.   It's title is "Writing Effective News Releases ...  How to get free publicity for yourself, your business or your organization. 

Why read the Book

It may not even be necessary to read the book to get useful information - just flipping through it - you will gain information.   The important thing is that by writing one or two pages - a news release - you can forward it to a television station or a newspaper .  News sources are looking for interesting releases to fill out their programming.   

The book covers essential information on what to include in the release and the format.  It shows many examples .  Chapter 10 is especially useful   Developing Newsworthy Ideas.

Summary

Many organizations or businesses cannot afford to pay for advertising - this book points out a way to promote your organization FREE.  By thinking about the ideas in the book - and reading some of the news releases you can not only learn about writing news releases you will have learned how to be a publicist for you, your interests and businesses or organizations.

All about teaching - a key book review for new teachers

A book review for student teachers and new teachers

"The Naked Teacher - How To Survive Your First Five Years in Teaching"  a review of the book authored by Louisa Leaman published 2006 - reviewed by Chris Garrah on March 24, 2013

The Naked Teacher - How to Survive your First Five Years In Teaching - authored by Leaman, Louisa

 

Why Student Teachers and New Teachers Need this book

When I attempted to be a teacher in the early 1980's I was sent on a practicum to teach high school students.   My teaching adviser merely said I needed to have more energy after watching me give a demonstration in a lesson.  But what the adviser did not see are several common fears - how to keep going when the lesson plan dies, or the fear that the student teacher has not received training on how to  maintain control of a class in any situation,  This book allays all of those types of fears by explaining that the teacher is a performer and their are techniques to manage the classroom that the teacher should become aware and intimate with in order to give one's confidence a giant boost in the classroom.
This manual will surely give you a secret weapon to boost your confidence and allay your fears of interacting with a group of students where you are the performer and where as the teacher you are the center of attention..   This really is a manual of how empower a new teacher or student teacher.  Sometimes training programs do not give you this type of training - it is better to be trained with a manual of how to do basic things like survive and thrive - especially if you, the teacher-to-be has unadressed fears of how to teach or control students.  This book delivers on its promise to show you the ropes of how to things and how to prepare.  Louisa Leaman really talks to you as a trusted friend in the book.  Its a comforting book to have for new teachers - even if you are a veteran teacher that is getting stressed - this book should help you get on the top of your game. 

Behavior management in the Classroom

If you spend going time reading  this book over and over your resourcefulness will be many times those who have never received training in depth classroom behavior management .  There are many things a teacher can do to put a firm hand on classroom development through reporting, contacting teachers.  But very importantly, there is an incredible listing of  a large variety of "easy" type lessons such as having students lead the course, exams, taking questions that could be created while the student teacher gets the feel of teaching.

The Politics of Teaching

The book covers every aspect of interacting with principals, fellow teachers, school staff, parents and students.  An emphasis is placed on developing  personality traits and teaching skills to allow you to survive and excel as a teacher.

Use It as A Reference

The book is available on www.amazon.com as well as other books by Louisa Leaman such as "Managing Very Challenging Behaviour " and "Classroom Confidential (Practical Teaching Guides)"   Check these books out and improve your odds of being a successful teacher. 

Learned Optimism - Why aren't people talking about this?

A review of a book that will help you achieve much, much more in life-  "Learned Optimism" by Martin Seligman Phd published in 1990  - A Book Review by Chris "Crispy" Garrah   March 24, 2013 

 

How the book changes you into an optimist

I really thought I was an optimist and a realist until I took the quiz in the book "Learned Optimism" by Martin E.P. Seligman.  But the book showed me that my "realistic" view was actually "pessimistic" in some ways. The quiz literally changed my life.  After reading the book people started to ask why I was smiling - apparently for no reason.. It was all about the author explaining how to re-wire your thinking to achieve incredibly more by being optimistic.  Because the author explains why and how to change your thinking this explains the title.  "Learned Optimism"  ....... the book is all about optimism you can learn. 

Why change into an optimist instead of a realist?

The author and his team pursued original research on dogs and humans - investigating why dogs and humans learned "helplessness" - where they gave up or in human's cases achieved far less than they were capable of. Optimists don't give up - on the other hand how many people have given up on achieving more because they have had a number of failures.

The golden nugget exposed in the book on how to become an optimist

It may sound crazy or irresponsible but the key is to attribute good qualities to YOURSELF when good thing happen to yourself and BLAME others or circumstances when BAD things have happened to you.  If you take the quiz in the book first it  will allow you to bounce around in the book and explore chapters in the book.   In this way if the quiz indicates pessimistic tendencies in some area you can rewire your self talk to more optimistic self-talk. It's all about promoting good self-talk so you don;t give up for example if you have had a string of failures. 

Isn't it irresponsible to blame others for your misfortunes?

The book explains that this is about SELF-talk.   Obviously, if you shared this outlook with an interviewer it wouldn't come across very well.. Ha. Ha.  It is also explained in the book where safety of people is involved a different approach would be warranted .   Are you thinking like me - " I think I can jump between those two buildings - well I guess that didn't work.  I  am feeling a lot of pain now" 

Avoiding depression and being Bummed Out

To sum up, people talk to themselves all day - "self- talk"  and the book is stressing the importance of attributing good qualities to yourself.  If you are having success at your company you should not be saying it's because of a good economy - it's really because you are a great manager or salesperson.  Remember, this is what you tell yourself.  You don't need to share your self-talk with other people. 

As I interpret the book it is better to blame other people or events for those things that you consider your major life screw ups as long as you don't share your self talk with others.  In this way you avoid learned helplessness - where you give up on life or achieving because you are remembering past failures that are not etched in life to repeat..  Instead you have followed the book and have learned to be an optimist.    

Read the book.  

 Personally,  I enjoyed taking  the quiz in the book -  48 questions long but if you review your answers and then take a look at how a very optimistic person would answer you will gain a lot of insight into how to become more optimistic and achieve more in life.  Why is it necessary to become an optimist?     Because optimists know they have many talents and skills and want to put them to work. You can and should become an optimist.  Remember - you don't need to be an optimist before you read the book You will have "learned optimism" after you read Dr. Seligman's book "Learned Optimism?  

The Book Review of "100 Ways to Motivate Yourself"

Book Review of "100 Ways to Motivate Yourself" - Author Steve Chandler - Reviewed by Chris Garrah

February 20, 2013

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself - Change Your Life Forever by Steve Chandler

The Bible of Motivation

This could  be your Bible of motivation!  In the book author Steve Chandler recommends that :' it is not how many books you read it's how many you apply."   He recommends it is better to read one book over and over than to read many books.

Reasons to Buy the Book

In my opinion this should be the book to read.  The strongest reason I think is that author  Steve Chandler overcame addiction  to become a successful author and speaker .  But also there are 100 ideas that are bound to kick-start if you have been in a long term rut .   This book will move you out of your comfort zone and help you make some improvements in your life.

Overcoming Procrastination

 I especially like his motivation  in chapter # 74.  - which is "Do something badly"  - meaning that you shouldn't wait till you're feeling 'just right' to do something that is important.

I have re-read some of the chapters and realized that the first time in reading that the message of some of the chapters did not sink in.  That is WHY you should buy this book.   There are a 100 short chapters with easy to digest ideas.   The writing style is breezy and agreeable.  It is written in a style that is current unlike some early 20th Century motivational authors that use a more stilted , formal style that is common to that time period.

Book Reviews "What the Best College Students Do" and "Mastery"

Two Book Reviews in one - "What the Best College Students Do" authored by Ken Bain and "Mastery" authored by Robert Green - both reviewed by Chris Garrah on January 8, 2013

These two books tended to merge in my mind. as books that guide anyone and everyone on how to pursue studies and mastery of those studies with curiosity and extra effort.    I was impressed by Robert Green's statement that if someone, anyone pursues an activity of interest that that person can become a master of that interest in 10,000 hours.   The brain becomes transformed.  The neural connections change.

Similarly in the book "What the Best College Students Do'  author Ken Bain suggests that intelligence can grow with study.   Ken Bain shows that the motivation of students may differ - and that if students motivation is grades or status they may get good grades but they may learn superficially.   But for those students who want a deep understanding - they are the ones that actually come to understand  the material.   

In this way, both books suggest you pursue your studies with a passion and pursue interests over a lifetime. 

College Students also offers specific techniques that will help students get a deeper understanding of  course  material. 

LIFE LONG LEARNING   

I hope these books support each other in the idea of gaining mastery of subkects over a life-time. 

The 10,000 hours mentioned in Mastery could for example take about 1 hour a day for 30 years of time dedicated to study..

I encourage readers to read the books  for ideas that appeal to the individual.   The case is made in "What the best College Students Do" that all of us are individuals with unique histories and talents and therefore we will have a unique slant on how we relate to the world. 

Embracing Failure and Examples of Mastery and Success

Both  books present examples of successful people that  have studied and succeeded in life - and both books present the idea of persevering through hardship and present ideas or traits that can cause people to give up.   Mastery  presents studies of great figures through the centuries while College Students presents more current biographies.

Mastery .is also about total life experience so it also showcases how to adapt to social environments at work and how to improve your odds with mentorships. but the book also shows how to succeed without a mentor by showcasing the great inventor Thomas Edison.. Thomas Edison had NO mentor yet still succeeded.

Happy reading!  .... and of course feedback is welcome.