Many people are not able to get what they want out of their careers and even their personal lives because they do not the finer points of initiating a conversation and keeping it flowing. Great Connections by Anne Barber and Lynne Waymon provides much constructive insight into the world of establishing small talk and networking.

Barber and Waymon illustrate the value of making positive connections by asking questions that go beyond a simple yes or no. Techniques to remember someone's name is also explored. Also, they both emphasize the positives of maintaining good body language. Etiquette is reviewed as well in a detailed yet simplified matter. The authors go over the proper way of introducing people whether its your mom to your supervisor or a man to a woman.

The authors emphasize the aspects of bringing an agenda(plan) to your networking conversations. Focus is the key here and the idea is to emphasize to those looking for a favor to also try to offer a favor as well.

The use of exercises is indeed quite helpful. In addition, the glossary of other helpful books is quite easy on the eyes. Great Connections is a nice short but sweet package.

Excellent book, very useful. Not only applicable to business. I have been living in the US for 12 years and I can speak English pretty well. However, language alone is not enough. The culture also needs to be understood. This book teaches the culture of interpersonal communications, how to start and build a relationship from scratch using small talk as a tool to understand and make yourself understood. What also struck me in the book is the combination of practical advice, lively easy to read and highly enjoyable style, while based upon very deep trully scientific insights into the subject. Highly recommend!

Possibly the best book on networking I've ever read (and I read a *lot* of them as background for a seminar I teach). Gives detailed, practical strategies and tools based on a sound understanding of effective interpersonal relations. Written in a lively, engaging style that suits the subject matter and the authors' philosophy perfectly. Recommended without reservation for job hunters, career builders, and entrepreneurs

This book is a masterpiece of creative and technical inspiration for choreographers eveywhere. It breaks dance down to its most minute details, and slowly builds into a work of art. This book is truly at the forefront of dance literature.

This book's a "keeper." It's so good, I use it for prizes in my classes--in Marketing, in Teaching Adults, in Information Technology, and in Organization Development/Human Resources. As we change with the business environment this century, people--contacts--are our primary resources, support systems, and the source of much of the value with which we transact.

In Marketing, it crowns the experience I call "The Nifty Business Card Contest" (it's fitting). In Teaching Adults, it conveys the basic skills that should be included in a broad variety of today's--and tomorrow's--learning experiences and in "double loop" learning activities that bring the learner to truly capitalize on experience. In Information Technology, it helps readers extend and make useful their human networks--a skill not much taught in IT courses. Finally, in Organization Development, it provides a big dose of strategies, skills, approaches and techniques that are so important in organizations and for people undergoing change.

Waymon and Baber have obviously recollected their experiences well--and translated them into thoroughly useful words of guidance for readers wanting to begin or to vastly improve their networking activities. They provide examples of what to say in stressful or uncomfortable situations, how to handle a received business card and "trigger" a request for your own, and how to organize and follow up occasions where you meet people.

Perhaps the most useful information relates to how to preplan for situations in which you are to meet people--how to select and to craft your agenda and to work for its fulfillment in the people you meet. It is obvious that the greatest talents in communication and perceptivity are at play here--and those of us whose idea of networking is "Hi! I'll call you sometime" will be greatly appreciative both of the depth this book brings to the process and of the practical guidance and checklists it provides.

It is a credit to the craft of writing the authors have mastered that you can read this book from front to back, back to front, or skip around with equal pleasure and a high degree of derived value. Readers who pick this book up will almost certainly be better networkers when they put it down, whether they read a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter or the entire book. This review would be longer, but I have to go meet a few people now.

Although I believe Lynne Franks has good insight for people who want to start their own business, I found it annoying the way that she would name drop and take credit for the success of others. If you are looking for an uplifting book that will help you take the next step toward running your own business, I would recommend, "Building a Business the Buddhist Way : A Practitioner's Guidebook" by Geri Larkin. This book provides the inspiration to take the next step and more practical advise on how to write a business plan and get started.

If you are thinking about starting your own business, and need encouragement and motivation to take the plunge, and if you are very visual, than this book could be helpful for you. It offers inspirational advice and is extremely well-designed and fun to look at (one of the reasons I bought the book was to put some of the illustrations on my bulletin board). If you are looking for hard-core information about the steps you will need to take to start your own business (i.e. legal and accounting information) this is not the book for you. Other than a list of organizations at the back, this book contains almost no practical information about the logistics of starting a business. Because the author's previous career was in public relations, there is a bit more information in that part of the book. Having said that however, if you get a headache every time you pick up one of those traditional business "how to" books filled with IRS type forms, this might be the book you need to ease you into the process. I find that it gets me in the mood and gives me the courage to tackle the dry practical books. Just be advised that you will need to purchase another book for the technical information. I would have given the book a higher rating, but I found the frequent mentions of the author's personal achievements to be quite irritating.

The book tells you that it is ok to shoot for the stars when every one else tells you other wise. If you want to start you own business and your a women PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK TODAY!

This books is also on downsizing. About half of it deals with the psychological aspects of being laid off, the rest with how to strategies to avoid it. An easy read with some valuable ideas. My experience consulting with management companies has shown that the fear of bad stuff happening, like getting laid off, significantly impacts performance. This helps you get your head on straight.

The book is a shallow summary of common-sense techniques that have applicability only for retail -type selling and networking. Some useful suggestions, but anybody seriously into networking would probably think of them by him/herself. I returned my copy. Not worth the money.