I have just finished reading this great book (How to talk to anyone) and thought I would share my thoughts about it with you.

Although a friend of mine who spied it in my handbag laughed out loud at the title as she knows I can talk for England, I found it full of fabulous, simple hints and tips.

In a sense, my friend hit the nail on the head ….. we can all talk nineteen to the dozen with our closest friends, knowing that it doesn’t matter too much what we say, because we are totally comfortable and can rant, complain and generally gossip in safety.

However, if I walked into a client meeting or a networking event and wittered the way I do on a Friday evening with my girlfriends, I would not only fail to get the job/ good contacts, but make myself and everyone else feel very uncomfortable.

Author Leil Lowndes gives lots of insightful, simple ideas and suggestions for ensuring  you can walk into any situation and feel at ease doing the things we all have to do sometimes, like making small talk, getting an introduction to the person you really want to speak to and desperately trying to keep a potentially dire conversation going, because there is nowhere to hide. Importantly she also talks about how to make the sale.

She introduces you to fun techniques, described as things like ‘Always Wear a Whatzit’ and ‘Accidental Adulation’ which are hard not to try out on everyone you meet once you have read the book.