How to Wow: Proven Strategies for Presenting Your Ideas, Persuading Your Audience, and Perfecting Your Image

by Frances Cole Jones

“The invaluable advice in How to Wow guarantees your success in any meeting situation, from the boardroom to the breakfast table.”
–Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone

In today’s fast-paced world, where an elevator ride with your CEO can turn into an impromptu meeting, your lunch date can become a job interview, and your conversation at a cocktail party may be a preamble to a potential business merger, knowing how to market yourself in any situation is vital. Corporate coach Frances Cole Jones has helped numerous CEOs, celebrities, and public personalities present their best selves on camera and onstage, in boardrooms and in person; now in her new book, How to Wow , she shares her strategies for making your mark in business and in life.

Every encounter, Jones believes, provides you with an opportunity to positively influence colleagues, employers, neighbors–even competitors. Not only your words, but your tone of voice and your body language speak volumes. The question, however, Are they working together to say what you want them to, as effectively as possible?

Inside, you’ll learn how to

• leave a lasting impression with a simple introduction
• effectively employ the twelve most persuasive words in the English language and command the stage, boardroom, or lunch table
• read nonverbal responses accurately–and shift negative ones immediately
• motivate your team under deadline
• interview fearlessly and flawlessly
• write the perfect pitch, résumè, cover letter, or e-mail
• deliver speeches that bring people to their feet
• transform a PowerPoint presentation into a powerful success

With easy-to-follow advice, amusing anecdotes, and immediately employable hints, Jones’s guidelines can keep you cool (even in hot water). From asking the right questions to giving the right answers, How to Wow will provide you with the confidence to be calm and commanding in all you do and to wow anyone anywhere anytime.

Genres: Business, Self Help, Personal Development, Communication, Nonfiction, Psychology, Leadership

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Lynecia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book with solid tips.
I advise taking it one chapter a time and taking notes - though each chapter is divided into bite sized essays, it can still be a lot to take in.
Definitely a good primer - the author gives great ways to enhance your presentation abilities - I definitely recommend further reading to delve deeper into each area that is outlined here.

[John McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

lots o' great ideas ... and easy to read

[Jude Qattan · Rating 3 out of 5]

From public speaking to how to make your Power Point powerful, a book that provides your lifelong needed tips and skills!

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning to communicate

Everyone wants to present their best impression to the people they interact with each day. Whether you are presenting a business proposal or simply chatting with your spouse, this book will help you give your audience the precise message you intend to convey.

[Marv Gordner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frances Cole Jones is wise. You can listen to her from time to time on "The Art of Manliness" podcast.
This book is full of practical common sense and street smarts. I use her advice regularly. As an added bonus, I e-mailed her with a work-related problem. Not only did she respond with sage advice--Her advice worked!!!

[Jo Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read ... For any human, any age

As a former business executive, these are the solutions I prized from my direct reports. How efficient to have the arsenal of action words superlatively dumbed down to me. Excellent insight. Rather, simply excellent.

[Jeannie Ruiz]

Solid advice with some perspectives I haven't found in the other 2 dozen sales guides I've read in the past few years. Frances Cole Jones does a creditable job of keeping the pace moving with anecdotes and examples.

[Shea Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, nice step-by-step advice - a useful resource. Not a fun book to listen to, and seasoned consultants should know most of this.

[Andris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise message, tips from author's experience, and some new ideas which I haven't head before, like, avoiding the useless modifiers (cool, awesome) and telling how it is cool or awesome.

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were several pieces of advice I hope to be able to remember and implement. Otherwise, it took me a while to chug through this book.

3.5/5 stars.

[Jonathan Bergh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information.

[Valeriia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep on coming back to Chapters 5 and 6 every time before an important speech or presentation. Very useful tips, that helped me to enhance my public speaking!

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Great advice on how to give a good first impression! (What to wear, how to stand, how to prépare, etc.)

[Gumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a selection of my OWL (Organization of Women Leaders) book club. I would recommend this book for anyone who is trying to figure out how to get a leg up. I actually copied a page on being nervous and sent it to my 17-year old nephew's girlfriend because it spoke right to the conversation we had waiting on the ladies' room line at the Brooklyn Bridge Starbucks. That message was about embracing nervousness, but there were many other tips and approaches to most of our common pitfalls. It has a great table of contents and arranged so you could just read the parts that related to your current concerns. I'm sure everyone will read something they already do, and will also learn something they are not doing.

[Unwisely · Rating 5 out of 5]

My library didn't have the book I was looking for, so I ended up with this one. It really hit the spot for me - very readable, usable advice that helped me both with phone interviews and the presentation I had to give as part of an in-person interview.

It's broken into bite-sized chunks, so it can be read in small snatches of time. The chapters are thematic, so you can go back and look at whatever's relevant to what you are doing at the time.

She might not be for everyone, but it was just what I needed. I am actually holding off returning it to the library to wait for the copy I just ordered to arrive (so I can transfer all my bookmarks into my own copy).

[Elision · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out at the library, but I plan to buy it. It's a good resource for presenting yourself or a topic in a professional setting. There are concrete examples and language tools to use to help you out of sticky situations, and the author has a friendly/amusing writing style that makes it a fast read. If you have to do public speaking or presentations of any kind (for work or fun), I'd recommend this book.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of useful advice on everything from how to present yourself to how to create a memorable presentation. The content is roughly divided into sections (e.g., interviews, presentations, etc.), and interspersed with shorter anecdotes. Although many of the suggestions are geared towards business, you can apply the lessons more broadly. Some comments are strange, but I definitely plan on consulting the book before my next interview.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful business book. I skipped most of the section on interviewing as I found it to be obvious, but the rest of the book is filled with helpful facts and nuggets of advice that are easily applicable in our day-to-day communication. A favorite quote:

Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit.”

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing book. It help motivate my desire to improve myself and give myself an accurate representation of what I could already do. Anyone looking for a push in the right direction when you are uncertain on how to sell yourself, read this. It also has an amazing list of recommended reads in the back.

[Naman Shrimal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undoubtedly one of the best books for personality development,it's a must read for any person who wish to improve his style of presentation. It's divided in various practical chapters which have a brief summary in the end and is therefore easy to remember and refer to. So whenever you have time, do grab the book and start enriching yourself !!!

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book defines how to put your best foot forward. From powerpoint to resume pointers, Ms. Jones delivers the tools that everyone should have in the toolbelt, if they want to impress anyone...anywhere..all the time.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from the library but it will be one I will be purchasing! Bite sized nuggets of practical wisdom that you can use to make your formal and informal presentations much better.

[Melissa]

This book is so chock-full of helpful tidbits I ended up purchasing a copy (I'm a faithful patron of the local public library).

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you teach public speaking this book has some great ideas to use. While the focus of the book is business settings it is easily translated to any settings.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one. Great read for speakers.

[Kaity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Mark Frisk]

How to Wow: Proven Strategies for Presenting Your Ideas, Persuading Your Audience, and Perfecting Your Image

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book for honing your presentation skills. I enjoyed the sections about both written and verbal communication skills.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Targeted and useful advice for anyone who wants to improve their personal brand in all situations and interaction. Easy, accessible essay format. This is a great read.

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read book on marketing tools for the knowledge worker, manager, executive, or entrepreneur.