Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review will get lost among all the fake reviews (the 'Top 1000 reviewers' who supposedly find this book earth-shattering), but after wasting my time I view it as a public service to tell it how it is. The book is an easy, even pleasant read. Alan follows his own advice of telling stories, and the result is a book that reads fast and smoothly. But at the end of it, I felt that I had learned nothing practical about how to communicate better. Why? Precisely because Alan tells stories (mostly about all the "fascinating" projects he's been involved in to improve how scientists communicate) but never brings it all together into a clear, memorable framework -- like, say, the four steps of Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication. Here is my take-away. Read this, and you will have saved your time and money. 1. Good communication requires empathy. 2. Improv helps you learn empathy. If you take an improv class, it may improve your skill to communicate complex information to a lay audience, at least for a while. 3. If you can't take an improv class, try meditating daily, naming the emotions others are feeling, gazing into people's eyes, and reading novels. 4. People memorize information better if you present it to them as a story, especially a story where there is a goal, and obstacles to surmount. 5. Alan thinks highly of the book Made to Stick by Chip Heath. That's it! In the comments, I would love it if people would suggest books that contain actual practical advice about how to communicate better.