You've Got to Be Believed to Be Heard, Updated Edition: The Complete Book of Speaking . . . in Business and in Life!

Having read Bert Decker's "You've Got to Be Believed to Be Heard" and implementing its principles into the every day operation of my professional practice I can say without question this book is one of the best of its kind written. Accent on Health Family Chiropractic would not be the same without this book. We have used it as a guide or road map to our success. Accent on Health Family Chiropractic has been one of the fastest growing chiropractic practices in eastern Pennsylvania. Using Bert's principles in my communications with staff and with patients has redefined my relationships with the people our office serves. I can confidently say that Bert Decker's work has made a huge impact on my business and I definitely recommend that everyone read this book. As a clinical anatomist, I appreciate Bert's physiological referencees to the "reptilian" or "first brain" and its ability to filter in or filter out communications based primarily on gut-level emotional judgments. Most readers will enjoy the amusing photographs of well-known celebrities and politicians as Bert has provided commentary and analysis of several famous historical communications. This book provides easy-to-follow instructions for training yourself to gain the emotional trust of others and to build more effective habits of communication with others.

Don't know why Bert Decker takes up to 70 pages to establish the contention of connecting with the "first brain" when communicating, something that actually should be covered in 5-10 pages at most. He is long-winded and provides cases after cases on speakers who do and do not speak to the first brain.

What a big deal about the first brain. Just use the words like "emotional appeal" or appeal to audience's emotions. Really disappointed about this so called new edition. Weak and shallow, when it comes to communication skills!

Should talk about the communication skills more instead of talking too much about communication theories.

The audiobook version is so dreadfully boring and long-winded as well! Could have tightened up the contents and found a better book editor who can do a better job.

I have a degree in speech and found this a very helpful book. It reminded me that some of the most captivating speakers were the old street preachers for the Salvation Army. If they could not hold an audience spellbound with testimonials and stories, they would not last long.

I am reminded also of a concept put forth by Gary Smalley about creating word pictures. I used this technique in a 2 minute devotional at a public meeting today before I gave the invocation and had a tremendous number of compliments and warm hugs after I spoke.

Bert is a trailblazer presenter who has trained a cadre of colleagues in his firm - all to help diverse others hone their speaking skills. And he never keeps learning as this book demonstrates. For practical, specific and original insights about how to become an authentic, frequently-quoted speaker, get this book. I bought two for my job-hunting nephews

"Communicating is a contact sport," says Bert Decker. "Your ability to communicate is the single most important skill determining your success in every aspect of your life. You dare not make the mistake of thinking that communication is nothing but dumping information on another person."

So what is communication? It's selling. "People buy on emotion and justify with facts," says Bert Decker. If he's right--you may need to tune-up your public communication style and skills. An emotional decision isn't necessarily the wrong decision, says the author, and then he reminds us what counts in public speaking: the 3 V's. Verbal is seven percent, vocal is 38 percent and visual (what the listener sees) is a whopping 55 percent. Yikes--the sub-conscious impression wins every time. So does likeability.

Decker trains politicians, Fortune 500 company CEOs and thousands of other people in effective public speaking. I dog-eared the pages in his book at least 30 times. Truth Number 1: "The spoken word is almost the polar opposite of the written word." He's right. "If you want the boss to give you a raise, don't send him a memo. Go to his office, look him in the eye, and persuade him that you're worth it."

The subtitle reads "The Complete Book of Speaking...in Business and in Life" and it is an amazingly complete book. Not only will you devour the take-`em-to-the-bank principles and ideas, you'll improve your own speaking ability immediately. Example: place paper faces on chairs in an empty room--and practice your talk.

"Old Communicators" get bogged down with too many boring facts. Apple's Steve Jobs (a "New Communicator") is "effective as a speaker because he's focused on the audience experience, not on dispensing data." He adds, "Use the action channel, not the information channel." (Last week, I listened to six speakers at a one-day conference. Five of them MUST read this book ASAP!)

The book is a page-turning joy to read--it grabbed my emotions and my brain. You'll appreciate Decker's insights on what makes a politician an effective communicator (Bush at Ground Zero versus Bush today). You'll never listen to your pastor or public speakers the same way again and you'll recognize bad habits instantly like the fig leaf flasher, the finger-pointer, and the sin of hiding behind lecterns (and pulpits). Another no-no: reading your speech. You'll also understand why communicators must first build trust--and why university students encountered a bubble gum machine outside their president's "open door policy" office.

Decker nails it: "The most important dimension of communication takes place not at the conscious level, but the unconscious level. We're talking about trust, believability and likeability--the emotional connection."

How important is this book? Earlier this year, I wrote Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit. Had I read Decker's book before I wrote mine, I would have added Bucket #21: The Public Speaker Bucket.