The First Minute: How to Start Conversations That Get Results (Business Communication Skills Books)

I bought this book for a book club we have at work, and I highly recommend everyone read it! It’s useful in all facets of life, not just professionally. I found it to be helpful for organizing my thoughts and becoming a clearer, more effective, and succinct communicator in various scenarios (communicating, collaborating, storytelling, soliciting information, etc). It’s a very quick read too. I particularly appreciated the numerous real-world examples. I hate when books like this stay purely conceptual without offering practical use cases. Definitely buy this one; you’ll thank yourself (and me! :)).

This book is gold. The framework is easy to understand and implement. It’s a critical topic and the author provides so many good examples all along the way. This is a book I will be not only implementing but recommending often. Mad kudos to the author!

This book has great advice for anyone that has a difficult time communicating their message at work. True to the essence of the book, it carries no fluff, and simply gets the practical information delivered effectively. Definitely recommend!

The author does a great job of providing guidance on how to improve communication skills. He provides a clear step by step guide on how to identify issues and address them in a meaningful way and with real life examples. If you find you’re re-explaining yourself in conversations with coworkers or want to improve your written/verbal communication skills with execs, then I can’t recommend this book enough. The first minute can make a big difference!

This book does a great job of simplifying communication techniques and making them easy to apply in real-world situations. The strategies for structuring emails and conversations are clear, actionable, and effective, making workplace interactions smoother. Plus, it’s well-organized and to the point, which I appreciate. However, some parts feel repetitive, and the content could be condensed into a shorter format. I also expected more on face-to-face communication, not just emails. The book also redirects readers to external resources, which some may find unnecessary. Overall, it’s a useful guide for improving workplace communication, but a more concise approach and broader scope would make it even better.

I mistakenly presumed that this book would help with PERSON to PERSON conversations. It is really focused on e-mail communication. That it does well, with a simple 3 step process to clearer email communication. This same method CAN be used when talking directly to a person, but in that respect, it is really formulaic, and would come off stilted. I was looking for a book that helped me with walking up to someone and starting a conversation. I will have to look elsewhere for such a book.

A great book for a learning how to communicate via verbal email or on the fly. Great structured instructions showing you how to walk-through intent goal problem solution I would recommend in the workplace

If you received corporate feedback to work on your communication this book is a game changer! Simple, clear, and concise on track for promotion

Super

Very well written book

How many times have you read a book or watched a YouTube video pin concise, clear and effective communication where the writer\speaker was not able to demonstrate this themselves let alone teach it? This book gets it right. The author provides an actionable structure to communications. Some more natural communicators may find the advice "obvious", however for neuro-divergent persons it might not necessarily be, and whilst we are not called out as the specific audience I believe the clear structure provided helps us "script" more effectively. The book is short and packed with value, the examples demonstrate the concepts in relatable ways, and help elucidate the advice. Top marks from me. Valued my time, practiced what it preached.

Simple and practical reading, easy to apply

The First Minute is an excellent book on how to communicate succinctly and to the point with all the key points laid out in the first minute of your conversation. A must read for anyone, especially people in corporates. The author recommends a two-part framework: 1. Framing: this is 1-3 sentences and something that can be said in 15 seconds or less. The author suggests describing the context, your intent from that conversation and your key message 2. Once you have framed your conversation and primers the listener, you use the next 45 seconds or less providing a Structured Summary using the GPS technique, meaning state the Goal, outline the Problem (s) in achieving that goal and your Solution (if any). He gives lots of real world examples and makes the reading fun. The book is compact, as it should be, and I managed to finish it in a day. Highly recommended.