Say the Magic Words: How to Get What You Want from the People Who Have What You Need

by Lynette Padwa

Anyone who’s tried booking a hotel room, talking with their child’s teacher, or buying a new car knows that encounters that used to be simple now feel like micro-excursions to a foreign country. Now a proven master of the popular reference book gives readers a passport to those daily encounters. Each chapter is a crash course in the culture of a specific field, its buzz-words, its policies, and the attitudes of its insiders. Here are the “magic words” that unlock information and secure cooperation—and the “absolute no- no’s” that guarantee nothing but grief. The insights come directly from the pros, and their advice is both entertaining and unnervingly candid. A combination of Home Comforts and Getting to Yes, Say the Magic Words is an indispensable resource.

Includes information on: attorneys, car dealers, doctors, hairstylists, hotel reservation agents, landlords, nannies, mechanics, real estate brokers, therapists, teachers, and many more

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2005

Reviews

[Noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting this book to be grounded deeply in research, just like Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People or Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, but I am certainly not sorry after reading it.

It feels more like a helpful manual to read before you reserve a hotel room or go see a doctor or purchase a vehicle. It offers useful tricks. You do not use them to take advantage of people. You use them to play the game better than the other side does.

This book by Lynette Padwa is basically a guide for surviving modern social situations and gives readers the right words to handle these moments easily.

Some useful questions to deal with: Attorneys, Car Dealers, Doctors, hotel reservation agents, landlords, mechanics, real estate brokers, therapists etc.

* Use the names of people during a chat to build a connection.
* Listen more than you talk.
* Stay away from rude language that stops people from wanting to help you.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before doing reviews. Just came across it again. It was really good. Some things I remember from 2005 or 2006 when I read it:

Say peoples name in a sentence before making a point.
Make eye contact when shaking someone's hand.
Talk less, have the person talk to you when they first meet you and they'll remember how much they liked you. (People love to talk, and just being a listener is a great first impression.)
At the beginning of every conversation- ask if it's a good time to talk