Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I'm a library freak. F.R.E.A.K. I will devour anything that remotely looks interesting as I walk blissfully up and down the cherished book stacks of my local library.On my latest venture to the avenue of books I happened to walk past this charmer and the title caught my attention: The Yes Factor.
Thought number 1: What am I saying yes to?
Thought number 2: Will this allow me to indulge in a guilt free shoe shopping excursion?
Then I looked at the subtitle: Get What You Want. Say What You Mean. The Secrets of Persuasive Communication.
"Oh!" I thought. Tantalizing! Get what you want, eh? (The possibilities are endless!) Say what you mean, eh? ("Clean your room or you'll be grounded until your 35!") The secrets of persuasive communication...really? I hoped on some level that the techniques contained therein would involve mind control so I picked it up and checked it out.
And haven't touched it since.
Ok, so I flipped through it. Looked at it. Gave it the cursory once over. The bottom line is...I didn't spend much time on it. But I did see that it's got chapters on body language, the power of gestures, and, my at-a-glance favorite, "Gender Differences in Communication". I couldn't make it past the first couple of pages, though. I need something gripping, like..mind control techniques. No mind control techniques were listed in the table of contents. I checked.
Much of what was listed I had already picked up in my Speech class a couple of years back. A few years in management has given me many of the listed techniques already (and a few others I'd have to charge you for divulging).
For the moment I'm abandoning this book, relegating it to the bedside table until I'm either a. really bored or b. taking it back to the library. But I feel like a book traitor. I'm sorry Ms. Reiman. If you write a book on mind control I promise to read it cover to cover in one sitting. Cross my heart and hope to die. May you make me stick a needle in my eye.
Now, after proofing this post I suddenly realized that this turned into a book review and I didn't mean for that to happen at all. I'm sure Ms. Reiman's book is very good. But now I feel bad. So I promise to read a whole chapter to make up for the guilt I feel for no longer wanting to read the book. Maybe there are hidden mind controls at work here after all.
