The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication Quotes

“the Charisma Principle: people are interested in the person who is interested in them. You can develop charisma when you focus on others by being present, projecting confidence, and creating warmth.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“There’s a story told about Mahatma Gandhi in which a woman took her little boy to see the great leader. “Mahatma, please tell my little boy to stop eating sugar,” the woman requested. “Come back in three days,” said Gandhi. In three days, the woman and the little boy returned, and Gandhi said to the little boy, “Stop eating sugar.” Puzzled, the woman asked, “But why was it necessary for us to return after three days? Couldn’t you have told my boy to stop eating sugar when we first visited?” “I could not tell him that then,” replied Gandhi, “because three days ago I was also eating sugar.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“As Hayley Hawthorne said, “Mastering communication skills isn’t something that can be done overnight. Developing communication skills is a journey that takes time.”4 But I can tell you this: the journey is worth every step!”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“transformational leaders: See things others do not see. Believe things others do not believe. Say things others do not say. Feel things others do not feel. Do things others do not do. Receive things others do not receive.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“The great enemy of communication… is the illusion of it.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“According to Harvard Business Review, “The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask… for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”56 This addresses the importance of thinking about asking”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“The more variety you bring to your communication, the more engaged your audience will be, and the more they will enjoy the journey as you take them where they need to go with your message. Audiences don’t want to just sit by passively as you talk. They want to be a part of the experience”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Our problem is, we have uphill hopes but downhill habits.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“If you’re a fast talker, you need to slow down sometimes just to let your audience breathe. Don’t be afraid of silence. Communication isn’t meant to be an all-out sprint. It’s meant to be an enjoyable journey.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Silence can underline an important statement. Any time you stop, it gets people’s attention and causes them to focus on what was just said. It makes them lean in. When you pause, let them linger there. Allow them to really dig in, to chew on what you said.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“There’s an intimacy created by pausing, because silence gives people the time and space to respond in their minds and hearts. It’s where they fill in the blanks and meet what I’ve said with their own thoughts, experiences, and conclusions. It can become an act of unspoken partnership. In such moments, silence truly is golden.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Practice the pause. Mark Twain said, “No word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Timing is the art of regulating your speech and movement in relation to your audience to produce the best results. That includes using the right words, facial expressions, movements, tone, and interaction; with the best rhythm and speed; at the best time.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“it’s not about you; it’s all about your audience. Do what you must do to create the best experience you can for them in whatever circumstance you face.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“You need to be in the moment with your audience, making the most of it because you will never again be in that moment with that audience for that purpose. Be present. Give your all to connect with people. It has the potential to be magical.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN SAID, “NOT all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.”144 I believe he was saying that good leaders are always growing, always learning, always reading books to improve themselves. But I believe as a leader he also knew that leaders are readers of other things as well: people, situations, trends, and opportunities”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Storytelling can help you in every aspect of communication. Chuck Swindoll, a brilliant communicator, said, “Stories transport us into another world. They hold our attention. They become remarkable vehicles for the communication of truth and meaningful lessons that cannot be easily forgotten”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“You can use stories for any purpose: to prove a point, illustrate an idea, teach a process, break the tension, or move your audience emotionally.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Every story has a hero, a goal, conflict, and resolution.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“If you want to become an excellent communicator, you need to learn the Law of Storytelling because people see their own lives in stories. Cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner estimates people are twenty-two times more likely to remember a fact when it has been wrapped in a story. Why? Because stories are memorable, they help us grab the gist of an idea quickly, and they trigger emotion.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Shakespeare famously shared some of his philosophy for presenting to an audience in the words of Hamlet when the character gave direction to the traveling players. He said, “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.”125 And that’s the bottom line when it comes to the Law of Visual Expression. Whatever people see must support what they hear. If there is a disconnection between the two, the audience will become distracted and be taken out of the moment. And they won’t feel what you feel, think what you think, or laugh when you laugh.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Daniel Pink says, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures.”120 He makes this assertion because word pictures engage both hemispheres of our brains and bring us to greater levels of understanding and involvement”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Behavioral scientists who have conducted studies have discovered that people remember pictures better than they do words most of the time.115 They call this tendency the “picture superiority effect.” Tim points out, “Post-modern society is a world saturated with data. People process approximately one thousand messages a day, digitally and personally. The only hope we have of our message sticking is to insure it contains pictures.”116 The more visual you are, the more memorable you are.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“As you work to practice the Law of Simplicity, remember these points: Less is more. Clarity is power. Clear is kind. Everything must be as simple as possible. If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it. Stop trying to impress the audience. Start helping your audience. Get to your point before people start asking, “What’s the point?” Say what’s important over again. Say it simply, say it slowly, say it with a smile.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Listening to great communication should be like having a great dining experience. Great chefs use only the best ingredients, and they concentrate their flavors. Each element of the dish is distinct. Nothing essential has been left out, and nothing extraneous has been added. The result is something intense, surprising, and deeply satisfying”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“In his book The Laws of Simplicity, MIT professor and graphic designer John Maeda writes about ways we can improve life by making it simpler. His first law couldn’t be more direct: “Reduce.” But my favorite of his ten laws is the last: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”110 What he’s really writing about is focus.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Brevity takes work. When President Woodrow Wilson was asked how long it took him to prepare his speeches, he responded: That depends on the length of the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“You don’t need to speak a long time to say a lot. It’s not the number of words you use; it’s the impact you make with the words you use.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message

“Churchill said, “Broadly speaking short words are best and the old words when short, are best of all.”105 If you want to communicate at the highest level, your language needs to be on the bottom shelf where it’s accessible to everyone.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message