The Talk About Talk Summer Reading List My Top 5 Book Recommendations

Are you a big reader? I read a lot of non-fiction. In fact, my bookclub often teases me for only reading non-fiction. I know I know… But there’s so much to learn!

Typically I start by listening to books. I listen on Audible when I’m getting ready in the morning, when I’m in my car, and when I’m making dinner. When I hear something that stops me in my tracks, I ask Siri to send me a text message with the point that caught my attention. If that happens more than a couple of times, that means I really love the book. That’s when I also buy the hardcopy and read it again, this time making notes. 

Here are 5 non-fiction books that I love and that I recommend for your reading list this summer, especially if you’re looking to boost your communication skills.

However you read your books, I hope you enjoy!

"Chatter" by Ethan Kross

This is one of the books I most frequently recommend to my clients. 

In Chatter, University of Michigan psychology professor Ethan Kross focuses on self-talk, a.k.a. the voice in your head that you may know as the inner critic.

Professor Kross takes a common and challenging issue, provides guidance supported by evidence-based research, and shares accessible and actionable strategies for overcoming negative self-talk, or rumination. 

One of those actionable strategies is to use distanced self-talk – as in using second person (“Andrea, you’re not an idiot!” or “Andrea, you got this!”) instead of first person (“I’m not an idiot” or “I got this”) to talk to yourself. This is a game-changing hack!

I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re looking to combat that negative Chatter and boost your confidence. 

"Talk Like Ted: The 9 public speaking secrets of the world’s top minds" by Carmine Gallo

What a worthwhile read!   

In Talk Like Ted, author Carmine Gallo conducted a meta-analysis of the top TED Talks and interviewed many of the speakers to deduce “the 9 public speaking secrets of the world’s top minds.”

Gallo provides examples and instructions for each of the 9 secrets. I won’t give the secrets away, but I will tell you that the best TED Talks are three things:

1. EMOTIONAL – they touch your heart
2. NOVEL – they teach you something new
3. MEMORABLE – you’ll never forget them

An aside - I also recently read Gallo’s “The Bezos Blueprint”. Another fantastic read. I learned a lot about Bezos and Amazon - and communication!

"Smart Brevity - The power of saying more with less" by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz

Smart brevity, or communicating with precision may be a more important skill than many of us realize. Consider your response when you open an email, a resumé – or even a podcast that’s way too long. Ugh!

Ironically the most generous communicators use fewer words. While we may be coming from a place of generosity when we go on and on, the truly generous communicators are the ones who do the work instead of imposing that work on the reader.  

So focus. Use headlines. Get to the point immediately in your email. Cut your resume down to two pages. Reduce the page count of that report. Be generous and communicate with precision. People can always ask questions if they need more!

This is an easy read!  Axios founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz wrote this book to share their firm’s mission and to encourage all of us to do the same: “Say more with less.”

"Executive Presence 2.0 - Leadership in an age of inclusion" by Sylvia Ann Hewlett

Ten years ago, Sylvia Ann Hewlett released the original Executive Presence to wide-spread acclaim.  After interviewing 100s of executives and reviewing a lot of data, she identified the three main components of executive presence:

1. Gravitas
2. Communication skils
3. How you show up

In this updated 2.0 edition, Hewlett talks about how each of these ingredients of executive presence have changed over the last 10 years. Executive Presence 2.0 suggests that leaders worldwide now seek to promote high-performing men and women who exude confidence but also project authenticity and inclusivity. 

10 years ago, gravitas was demonstrated through a “dominant” form of confidence, whereas now it's about being more transparent. 

Previously, “how you show up” would ideally be as a tall white man in an expensive blue suit. Nowadays we respect and expect diversity. We also dress less formally - yet still with polish, as Hewlett advises.

As a communication coach, I would argue that “gravitas” and “how you show up” are also types of communication skills.  That said, Hewlett’s insights and advice in Executive Presence 2.0 are well-researched and certainly worth a read!

"Insight - The surprising truth about how others see us, how we see ourselves, and why the answers matter more than we think" by Tasha Eurich

When it comes to self-awareness and your communication, how would YOU rate yourself?

According to some research I read, only 10-15% of us qualify as highly self-aware. But the good news is that we can turn the dial on self-awareness.  

Insight by Tasha Eurich, is all about self-awareness, a critical ingredient to our communication, our relationships and our happiness. Self-awareness is "the meta-skill of the 21st century"

Eurich discusses the disconnect between how we see ourselves and how others see us and offers practical advice on how to become more self-aware.

But why do we want to become more self-aware?

The research on this is definitive. Self-awareness has a significant positive impact on us in several ways, including improving our confidence, our influence, our creativity, our ability to collaborate, our ability to regulate our emotions, and self-awareness decreases our stress levels and makes us happier.

Afer reading Insight, you’re sure to become more self-aware and also more accurate in your self-asssessment.

Homework

It’s summer - there is no homework!  

Just a suggestion to include these books on your summer reading list:

1. Chatter by Ethan Kross
2. Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
3. Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz
4. Executive Presence 2.0 by Sylvia Ann Hewlett
5. Insight by Tasha Eurich

Do you have any summer “must-reads”?  Please share them in the comments. I’d love to hear what books you recommend.

Happy reading!

Talk soon,

Andrea

Dr. Andrea Wojnicki is a Harvard-educated executive communication coach. She founded "Talk About Talk" to help ambitious executives communicate with confidence and clarity by focusing on topics such as personal branding, overcoming imposter syndrome, listening, demonstrating leadership, and formal presentation skills.  Andrea provides 1:1 coaching, workshops, keynote speeches, and online courses. She also shares her thought leadership as a columnist at Inc. magazine and she hosts the Talk About Talk podcast, with over 160 episodes and counting.