This book was a pleasure to read, with numerous examples of how to conduct yourself so that people, well, listen. Hamlin draws on her experience as a trial lawyer's consultant and in television, breaking down the communication process into an examination of the motivations of the participants.

Take away only a few tips from this book, and you are bound to get better responses from anyone you talk with - by phone, by email, in person.

The only downside to the book is that as it was written in 1988 there is no mention of Internet communications. Examples and tips specific to email, instant messaging, voice over IP, etc., would have been helpful, but it's easy enough to extend the ideas and lessons to pretty much any medium.