Three Great Books For the Times

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Salaam and Greetings,

I love books. When I was about 10-11 years old, I found my father’s box of Reader’s Digest with about 20 years of back issues. It went back as early as 1960s. I read them all. Even after bedtime, I would take my father’s flashlight and read it under the covers of the blanket. Of course I get caught a couple of times. He is not upset about me reading, it is just that, next morning, I will be too groggy to wake up.

My father may not be rich, or educated (he only finished Darjah 8 back in the 40s), and he retired as a Chief Clerk in a legal firm. But in his simple and modest ways, he gave me something he can only afford to give, the love of reading and knowledge. I owe him that. He passed away eight years ago, come this April. Thanks Abah.

I am currently reading Richard Branson’s book, “Reach for the Skies”. It was given to me by a friend. I thank him for that. I was a bit prejudge mental about the book. I felt that he would probably full of himself and I want to read it so that I could prove me right. Nah… I was wrong. It is actually a good book. I am only on page 40, I am sure it gets better.

Below are some books for those who do presentations, either professionally or as part of their job to do that.

I intend to read all these books. In my previous life, I do a lot of presentations, and road shows. I guess, it won’t hurt to get better at it.

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March 08, 2011

Three Great Books For the Times

So far, this is shaping up as a great year for books!
Over the last few weeks, I've received advance copies of 20 books, and read about eight of them (based on their appeal and relevance to myself or my followers).  Here's my down and dirty review of the best 3:
1 - Tell To Win by Peter Guber - If you sell, speak, present or communicate...read this book ASAP. While there have been several books written on storytelling, this is the most business-centric one I've ever read.  As a speaker, I'm already employing his techniques and they WORK.  He is very generous, sharing his failures with us in his career due to a lack of storytelling.  More important, he divulges the heart of a good story: Challenge, Struggle and (surprising) Resolution.  As a master story man (he produced movies like Rain Main and taught a UCLA class on narrative), he is the perfect source for the subject.
2 - Poke The Box by Seth Godin - If you've ever put a book down halfway through because 'you got it' at the introduction, you'll love Godin's brevity and economy.  This book is a classic 'pocket book' that's both beautifully designed and powerfully effective.  He'll prod you to close the Dreaming-Doing gap and execute your vision ... today!  Much like his blog posts, he's crisp and clear here.  You'll spend less than $8 on it and finish it in an hour.  What a deal.
3 - Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki - From the master of influence (Apples original evangelist), comes a tool box of techniques for engaging other people and bringing out the best.  If you liked my second book (The Likeability Factor), you'll love his extensions on the subject.  He's also great at creating a case for Cause-Driven companies, projects and people.  PS - It's got one of the most enchanting jacket designs I've ever seen.  Guy told me how hard he had to fight for it, and how much trouble he went to in finding the perfect butterfly for it.  Design matters.
PS - I'm digging into Disciplined Dreaming by Josh Linkner right now.  It's on the subject of creativity and innovation, and how we can unleash that inside our groups and within ourselves.  Looks VERY promising.

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