Good practical way of dealing with difficult conversations & situations. It helps you to get into the mind of others and recognize the same issues in your own mind as you address issues. Excellent material. ( )

A good book - the skills it attempts to teach are absolutely invaluable, both at work and at home. It is hard to apply the principles simply based on the reading material, however - particularly when many of the scripts provided feel artificial. Still, a helpful book - particularly if you are discussing it in a group afterwards. ( )

Does a very good job providing methods to deal with conversations that are emotionally charged. Avoiding the "flight or fight" (violence or silence) reaction to verbal attacks, as well as preserving and improving the relationship, are among the topics discussed. ( )

It seems that most of the books I've been reading and reviewing lately have been fulfilling a personal crisis. Wounded by School came at a time when I was looking for help with my son's academic career. Crucial Conversations arrived around the time I was preparing for my annual review and several months after receiving feedback from several peers that still has me reeling.

I picked up this book hoping to help me be able to better converse with my co-workers, who declared that I was rude, confrontational and unapproachable. While I may not be quite where I want to be, this book did not disappoint in providing me with helpful hints and tools to use to better converse with everyone in my life - from loved ones to managers to peers. It's going to take me some time to master these skills, but at least understanding some of the issues I face and how to initiate overcoming them is half the battle.

The authors freely admit that this book is not meant to be read in a short time frame but meant to be absorbed chapter by chapter. The goal is to get the reader to master each skill and build upon it. In order for me to best be able to absorb these lessons, I will definitely have to revisit each chapter. But I did come away with some initial lessons that emotions are our biggest downfalls when it comes to conversations that matter. Knowing how much my heart pounds and the blood rushes when I get truly upset or nervous, this definitely touched a cord. Being cognizant of the damage emotions do to conversations will help me be able to take steps to minimize their impact. In fact, I've already started incorporating this lesson and hope to remain cognizant of my emotions in all of my conversations. Some days I will do better than others, but at least I am trying.

The beauty is that these skills have their place in your professional and personal life. The concepts are presented in an easy-to-understand manner, and the authors provide many mnemonic devices that help the reader remember the skills. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their ability to converse and field their way in the trickiest, most sensitive of conversations.

Thank you to Anna Suknov at FSB Associates for the opportunity to review this book! ( )

Everyone has to deal with difficult situations while interacting with people whether it be a difficult customer, a overzealous boss, or a conflict with a coworker. It is necessary to be able to deal with these types of situations with out losing your temper or making your work-life much more difficult and much less productive. Crucial Conversations is the perfect tool for anyone who has to deal with customers or coworkers for any amount of time. It gives you the basic tools to be able to manage maintaining your composure in difficult situations.

The advice in Crucial Conversations was given in an extremely engaging manner. The language was very conversational. I did not feel as if I was being preached or talked down to while reading this book as I think some self-help and instructional books have the tendency to do. The examples and stories illustrated their points sufficiently and in an engaging way. The stories also did not overwhelm. I sometimes find that there are too many and they overpower the message of the book. That was not the case with this one. The exercises were also very helpful and illustrated the points very well.

Crucial Conversations did have one minor flaw. I did find that sometimes the language became a bit cliché. It was not overly obvious and I feel that most self-help books fall victim to it.

I would recommend Crucial Conversations to anyone who works with people…simple as that because it’s inevitable that a situation will arise where the tactics in this book will be extremely useful. ( )