It is truely amazing how helpful this booklet is! It really taught me how to be a genuine listener. I am one of those who likes to help people that have a problem by giving advice or asking multiple questions. Listening to understand helps to change those bad habits and learn how effective it can be with those relationships that mean the most! I find that not only does it work well at home, but with professionals too. I also find that the other person feels appreciated and understood. If you find that you continuously deal with people that bring up the same problems or don't know how to listen to others effectively, read LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND.

This book clearly and concisely teaches how to really listen, let the other person know you have heard them, and preserve or improve the relationship in the process. Most importantly, it teaches you WHEN it is appropriate to listen, which is more often than you think! The concepts in this book are simple and easily understood, but practicing these skills to the point where they become natural takes time and patience.

Once you have mastered the Listening to Understand skill in this book, you can find more ways to apply that powerful skill by reading another book by Helen Hall Clinard, "Winning Ways to Succeed with People." The listening skill taught in this book really is key to learning the interpersoanl communication skills that Clinard teaches in her other books.

"Listen To Understand is an enormously powerful book! I could not put it down once I began reading. I truly identify with the comments about how few people really understand what listening is all about or the power of the skill."

Winning Ways is a step by step book for development and learning of powerful and subtle ways of communicating with people. I was first introduced to Helen Clinard's "ways" in 1993, became a student, and with practice and nurturing, have endeavored to incorporate these skills into my daily living, that is to make them become so natural that they are behavioral habits. Helen Clinard's insights into human communication behaviors, were ahead of their time, sort of precursors to recent emphasis and popularity of Emotional Intelligence in management training. The book is technical, thorough, uses graphical models, and incorporates many day to day examples to help the reader. A must have for those in executive coaching and counseling professions.

I use this book as a communication training resource for suprvisors. The skill outcomes are concrete and applications oriented. Another advantage of the book is that it is written in a developmental format. Everything is in a stepwise order. Each part builds on the skill previously presented. I recommend using this book as a training guide for communication training with people who want well defined, concrete, applications-oriented training. I liked it so much I brought in the author, Ms. Helen Clinard, to do the training. I also recommend this book as a self-help guide to individuals wanting to learn concrete and useable communication skills. It is clearly written, easy to understand and the skills are effective when practiced in real life situations.

If it is true -- and I believe it is -- that effective communication is the key to success in business, life, and parenting, then this book is a "must buy!" The "seven skills" taught in this book are really interlocking parts of a single framework for understanding and interacting with human behavior that can transform all the relationships in one's life. I have used the skill called "Tracking Positives," for example, to teach first-time supervisors how -- pragmatically -- to (in Dr. Johnson's words) "catch employees doing something RIGHT!" I know parents who have been able to open up long-closed channels of communication with their adolescent children by practicing the skills in this book. And I have watched as volunteers have been able to use these skills to break through to people on the edge of hopelessness. If you are serious about communicating effectively or if you know someone who should be -- buy this book!

This book is a wake up call to the power of tracking positives. The skill is presented simply and clearly and is reinforced with real anecdotes. Most of us have experienced the power of receiving appreciation. Yet we tend to criticize, in our mind if not openly, instead of tracking positives. At one time I was a professional "negative tracker" on one of my sons. Because I began to track positives instead of tracking negatives I believe several things happened: · I felt better about my son. · I felt better about myself. · My son felt better about himself. · We both felt better about our relationship. · He began to do more of the things I liked and less of the things I disliked. Now I respect him. He respects me and we have fun being together. We enjoy each other's company as adults. I really believe I could have blown all these benefits if I had persisted in tracking negatives. When put to use, this little book produces a big payoff!

This short, simple book has really made a difference in my life. I always used to get defensive when criticized and immediately try to shoot down the other person, explain myself or rationalize my own behavior. This book showed me why it makes sense to handle criticisim in a different way. (I won't give the skills away here, because Clinard explains them so well in the book. You'll have to read it!) The skills are very simple, and if you can go against your initial reactions to criticism and use these skills, it really works like magic in your interpersonal relationships. WELL worth the (price)!