Talk Lean: Shorter Meetings. Quicker Results. Better Relations.

If you like to talk around the point this book is not for you.However, if you like to be clear and direct but lack the ways to be subtle - you talk like a bulldozer - this book is for you.My speech has gotten blunter since my head injury in 2015 and so my brother suggested this book and it has done me well. I can see how I can still get to the point about what I am talking about but do it in a gentler, non-abrasive way and that not only benefits me but everyone around me.Thank you for showing how to be direct but do it in a softer, gentler win/win fashion.

Brought out some interesting points about really listening to the person you are negotiating with in meetings. Understanding what they are really asking for!

I won't go on and on about this book, because that would defeat the purpose. This book is a quick, easy read, and very helpful to have more efficient meaningful conversations. It's been a game-changer for me personally and professionally. I highly recommend it.

Couldn't find any real idea in it besides benefits to communicate clearly. Also not that exciting to read.

It is not only relevant in terms of practical application, but an excellent guide to know better the Discipline Interactifes, which I've had the pleasure of being introduced and already harvested practical and really satisfactory results with its use.The author has a good sense of humor and despite of the easy reading, his analysis of real situations give us an interesting perspective in how the communication occurs currently.If you want to improve your communications skills, I do not know a better material to recomend. Or if you want a world with people more polite, calm, respectful, courteous, using a language more clear, simple, straight to the point, this is a excelent option to give as a present to someone that you have much contact.

Exceptionally good sample dialogue is contained within Mr. Palmer's book - with lots of situations that happen in every day life - of all the communication books out there, this one is one of the best ones in that most of what is said in it rings true, for me at least. For instance, setting a context: Perhaps its common sense, or perhaps its my upbringing as a teacher, but, so often, in business or team meetings or trainings, I wonder, what is the point? Yes, it's good to know the details, but without an honest context being set as to the purpose of the meeting and what is expected throughout and at the end of the meeting, oftentimes, not much is accomplished and people, 9 times out of 10 are suspicious and wary of the unspoken real reason for meeting. I really like this book, and although some of the sample dialogue may appear stuffy or sometimes, even, cocky, it can be turned around to fit one's personal style.

Even a small improvement in your communication skills could be life-changing. It only needs one or two people, in key situations, to say yes where they might have said no for the course of events to be radically altered. Just imagine if Louis XVI had persuaded Danton to stay for dinner. ‘Talk Lean’ gives you a framework to significantly improve your communications skills and achieve what you want without coming across as aggressive.

Talk lean is based on everyday life situations to highlight the small details that would allow more transparent and effective discussions with people. I read this book for professional reasons, but realize that I also benefit from this discipline in personal life, tochat with friends and meet new people. I play with these little tricks in a lot of different contexts and I'm impressed by the results!

As another reviewer has said, the book undersells itself as a manual for shorter meetings (although such is the pain of long meetings, I can understand why the title was chosen...). What it really is, is a formula for starting to address all kinds of difficult and high stakes issues, in business life but also personal life. When I started reading this book I had been wrestling for weeks with a seemingly intractable problem with somebody - by chapter two I was beginning to see a way to approach solving it, which stood a lot more chance of success than anything I'd tried to date.In a business context, this book will be particularly useful for people working in account management, bus-dev or sales, where you often only have one shot to get a result from a meeting. It's a great relief that the book doesn't ask you to psycho-analyse the person or people you are communicating with - it's incredibly hard to do this accurately AND tailor your approach accordingly on the hoof as conventional sales training would have you do. In Talk Lean, it's a simple one-size-fits-all.I agree with the reviewer who said that some of the conversation examples are rather cringe-y - I wrote "yuk" in the margin besides one of them! - but the guiding principles are so clearly expressed in the text that it's very easy to think of better examples yourself, or to imagine how you would make them your own.

Not many books actually change the way you work or behave, but this one really has. My problem was definitely on the awkward, reluctant-to-say-what-I-really-thought side of the 'Talk Lean' dilemma (one one side being too brutally direct, on the other beating about the bush and not getting your message across). Alan's insights - such as the idea that it is always OK to say what you feel, but not OK to tell the other person what they should or do feel - and that they are actually happier when they understand exactly what you feel and want - have really helped me relax and be more assertive without feeling that I am being pushy.

The book and the course (which I've also done) offer a jargon-free guide to how to improve the way you express yourself when talking to other people. You'll only realise that, like me, you're currently a 4 out of 10 when you've read the book. The "discipline" at the heart of the book builds on how people react to things that are said to them - rationally but above all emotionally. It builds a model of how to improve your outcomes which rings true chapter by chapter. Given the title, you'd expect it to get to the point quickly. And it does. It's very powerful and written by a businessman not a guru.I co-own and run a small business. The first application of "Talk Lean" was to help me land a large multinational coffee shop business as a customer. It worked. They are now our biggest customer.

I read the book review and was not disappointed after purchasing the book. I now realise where I can perform better in a professional and personal settings. The techniques, the author teach, are simple and based on common sense. The author uses very good examples drawn from work and personal environment.I think the author is undermining his cause by the book title as it is much more than about effective meeting management; it's about effective life management by showing how one can be confident in expressing his or her views or take necessary actions without fear.

This book deals with best practices regarding interpersonal relationships. Nothing theoretical: just the observation of the best managers and the best sales persons. How do they talk? How do they listen? How do they ask questions?This approach has changed my life both professionally and personally: I have realized that I can be direct and respectful at the same time, that I can say no without putting the relationship at risk, that I can take a clear position and get to the objective I have designed with the benefits of all in mind.A must read!