How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

"The lost art of verbal communication may be revitalized by Leil Lowndes."--Harvey McKay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten

Leil Lowndes' How to Talk to Anyone offers101 time-tested hints, tips, and techniques for confidently communicating with others. A bestselling author and renowned communications consultant, Lowndes focuses on ice-breaking skills and communication techniques that are proven successful when making a positive first impression, establishing instant rapport and credibility, and more.

Packed with basic, no-nonsense advice and solid research evidence about which techniques work best in which areas, How to Talk to Anyone show readers how to:

• Make small talk not so small
• Use body language to captivate an audience
• Look like you know what you're talking about--even when you don't

I'm so glad I stumbled across this book. "How to Talk to Anyone" is filled with wonderful gems of knowledge. And, as someone who works in pharmaceutical clinical research, I appreciate how she backs up her techniques with research studies and statistics (this book is based on science, not fluff!). Leil's witty and straight-forward writing style truly makes her book come to life. My friends and I often go to the park and read her pearls of wisdom out loud...her tell-it-like-it-is New York attitude is so refreshing! I've read this book several times- each time serves as a nice refresher course. It's quite fun to try out her tips, and to see the amazing response that they have (in social settings, at work, with family members, etc). Many people have commented on how my communication skills have improved (and all I did was follow Leil's simple rules). I've seen that Leil's courses (through Verbal Advantage cost $2000+), so to only pay around $15-20 for this book is a total bargain. I also recommend her other books "How to Be a People Magnet" and "Updating".


I'm a new Leil Lowndes fan!   July 26, 2009
Janey (New York)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I've been searching for a book on how to improve my conversations for years. My first was obviously, the well-known How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. While there is excellent material in that book, like Leil Lowndes said, it was great for the twentieth century, but this is the twenty-first century.
This is the only book that I've read which tells you HOW and makes it really easy to apply. It is also a confidence booster along the way. Too many of these how-to book's really blow things out of proportion, claiming that you can practically achieve instant sucess. However, Leil Lowndes puts it simply and honestly, you do need to PRACTICE, but with the explanations in this book, it IS easy to become a good conversationalist.
Another great part about this book is that whenever you forget how to handle a certain situation, you can go back to the table of contents and look up one of the 92 tips which tells you EXACTLY how to solve the problem/enhance the situation.
The only problem I have with this book (which actually isn't a "problem" at all) is that it is especially fit for businessmen and how to score big in those settings. However, I am a student so I didn't find those portions of the book necessary for the time being, but it doesn't hurt to know anyway!
I can't recommned this book enough. I even underline sentences and take notes on the margins because it is THAT important. Now I am off to read another of Lowndes' books!


My daughter found me out!   December 10, 2003
David Coasby (London UK)
72 out of 102 found this review helpful

Us guys in the UK are generally a little more reserved than you folk in America (all part of being English I suppose?). Meeting and starting conversations with strangers doesn't usually come so easily for most of us. So when I came across this book 'How to talk to anyone' on my daughters bookshelf I decided to `borrow' it.

I was quite impressed with some of the easy-to-use techniques the author suggested but hadn't really appreciated just how much they'd obviously sunk in as I read through it.

It was only when my daughter remarked to me a few weeks later "Dad, have you been reading 'How to talk to anyone'?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, I've been watching you recently, and you're going round talking to everyone like you've known them for years. Even the way you stand, listen and look at people is different!".

I confessed, and we both laughed. Like I said, I hadn't realised how easy and just how well Leil Lowndes' techniques worked.