It’s become a product molded and shaped to suit the narrative. Facts that don’t fit are omitted. Off-narrative people and views are controversialized or neatly deposited down the memory hole. Partisan pundits, analysts and anonymous sources fill news space leaving little room for facts. The line between opinion and fact has disappeared.In Slanted, Sharyl Attkisson reveals with gripping detail the struggles inside newsrooms where journalism used to rule. For the first time, dozens of current and former top national news executives, producers and reporters give insider accounts, speaking with shocking candor about their industry’s devolution.Americans know their news diet is now filled with fast food concoctions created from talking point recipes devised by partisan and corporate interests. They see a record number of fact mistakes made by some of the world’s most formerly well-respected media outlets . . . often with no apologies. The media largely blames Donald Trump. But as this autopsy shows, the death of the news as we once knew it is self-inflicted. And the weapon was the narrative. Sharyl Attkisson also finds reason for hope and argues that courageous, counternarrative news reporting can revive journalism.

    You do not need to be in Congress to champion a cause. From the boardroom to the kitchen table, opportunities to make your case abound, and Doesn't Hurt to Ask shows you how to seize them. By blending gripping case studies from nearly two decades in a courtroom and four terms in national politics with personal stories and practical advice, Trey Gowdy walks you through the tools and the mindset needed to effectively communicate your message.Along the way, Gowdy reflects on the moments in his life when he learned the most about how to argue and convince. He recounts his missteps during his first murder trial, the conversation that changed his view on criminal justice reform, and what he learned while questioning James Comey and Secretary Hillary Clinton.Sharing the techniques he perfected advocating in law and politics, Gowdy helps you identify your objective, understand your personal jury, and engage in the art of questioning so you can be heard, be understood, and, ultimately, move others. Whether it's getting a boss to take a chance on your idea, convincing someone to support your cause, or urging a child to invest more effort in an important task, movement requires persuasion. Doesn't Hurt to Ask shows you how to persuade, no matter the jury and no matter the cause.

    So do our politicians.We're not listening.And no one is listening to us.Despite living in a world where technology allows constant digital communication and opportunities to connect, it seems no one is really listening or even knows how. And it’s making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before. A listener by trade, New York Times contributor Kate Murphy wanted to know how we got here.In this always illuminating and often humorous deep dive, Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there (including a CIA agent, focus group moderator, bartender, radio producer, and top furniture salesman). It’s time to stop talking and start listening.

    In The Advice Trap, bestselling author, speaker, and leadership coach Michael Bungay Stanier shares his invaluable insights into developing team members’ professional performance, using tips that even the busiest managers can put into play. Learn how to confront and quell the three advice monsters that lurk inside us all, and how to resist the seven temptations that can ensnare even the most well-meaning manager. With his trademark wit and wisdom, Michael shows you exactly how to ask questions that drive impact and engagement, eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive. He takes you through examples of common problem situations, and reveals how to overcome them by using his everyday coaching tips. Finally, he shows you how to attain the highest level of engagement with his “blackbelt” tools of employee interaction: transparency, lightness and deep appreciation.A companion to The Coaching Habit, The Advice Trap gives you the power to say less, ask more—and change how you lead forever.

    Negotiation is not a zero-sum game. It’s an essential skill for your career that can also improve your closest relationships and your everyday life, but often people shy away from it, feeling defeated before they’ve even started. In this groundbreaking new book on negotiation, Ask for More, Alexandra Carter—Columbia law professor and mediation expert who has helped students, business professionals, the United Nations, and more—offers a straightforward, accessible approach anyone can use to ask for and get more. We’ve been taught incorrectly that the loudest and most assertive voice prevails in any negotiation, or otherwise both sides compromise, ending up with less. Instead Carter shows that you get far more value by asking the right questions of the person you’re negotiating with than you do from arguing with them. She offers a simple yet powerful ten-question framework for successful negotiation where both sides emerge victorious. Carter’s proven method extends far beyond one “yes” or handshake and instead creates value that lasts a lifetime. Ask for More gives you the tools to bring clarity and perspective to any important discussion, no matter the topic.

    In both high-pressure situations and everyday scenarios, in each meeting and email, we have the opportunity to empower our colleagues by using the right words.In Leadership is Language, Former US navy captain David Marquet expands on his bestselling leadership book Turn the Ship Around! and shows managers and leaders the next step in their development: how to enable their team through communication.Marquet outlines a set of principles and tools that help leaders inspire their people to take responsibility and address challenges without waiting to be told what to do, highlighting how small changes in language can lead to dramatic changes in a team's success and happiness.Praise for Turn the Ship Around!:'I don't know of a finer model of this kind of empowering leadership than Captain Marquet. And in the pages that follow you will find a model for your pathway' Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'To say I'm a fan of David Marquet would be an understatement... I'm a fully fledged groupie. He is the kind of leader who comes around only once a generation. He is the kind of leader who doesn't just know how to lead, he knows how to build leaders. His ideas and lessons are invaluable to anyone who wants to build an organization that will outlive them' Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why

    

    In Speak Inspire Empower, he explains his secrets of presenting to any audience - how you can keep them hanging on your every word and persuade them to follow your call to action.In this book, you’ll learn how to:- get everyone’s attention from your first words- have a clear goal for your presentation- build self-confidence for your talk- learn from the very best public speakers of today- persuade your audience using influence techniquesAnd he relates his personal story, how he gave his first presentation - terrified - to how he ended up on the TEDx stage to give the popular talk: “How to present to keep your audience’s attention”.This book is unlike any other on public speaking. The techniques are powerful and practical. Each chapter contains exercises for you to implement what you’ve learnt. His personal story is as inspiring as it is fun to read.And his message of positive feedback is something everyone needs to hear.“Mark has taken the principles learnt from my course and built on them to give a great TEDx speech, a first-class presentation skills workshop and now a winning book! The powerful techniques in this book are well explained, easy to implement and will take your presentations to a new level. And his personal journey, from a terrified presenter to the TEDx stage, is inspiring to all. Highly recommended!”Remco Claassen: Speaker & Best Selling Author

    

    A plague of fluffy guinea pigs? It's next on our agenda.But for me, Cookie and Zeke, it’s about more than just fun. We're determined to make a difference. And when the adults won’t listen, us kids will find a way to be heard – as long as we can stay out of detention!No activist is too small, no prank too big... and things are about to get personal.

    They are what allow us to feel safe among strangers, in everyday interactions, and in our closest relationships. When we have healthy boundaries, we have a strong foundation in an uncertain world. And when someone crosses your boundaries, or you cross someone else's, the result range from unsettling to catastrophic. In this book, bestselling author Dr. Faith Harper offers a full understanding of issues of boundaries and consent, how we can communicate and listen more effectively, and how to survive and move on from situations where our boundaries are violated.

    In fact, money issues are the number one stressor in relationships. So many books try to fix the surface problems, such as how to budget and what to prioritize when it comes to finances, but the issues go much deeper than just a simple spreadsheet.How do men and women view money differently? What do most couples fight about? How can they get on the same page? What questions should men/women ask their significant others before marriage? There are emotional and spiritual components to finances that most couples ignore. How can you agree on a budget if you disagree with each other on the basic purpose of money?Thriving in Love and Money is based on original research Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn have conducted to get to the heart of these issues. And just as they did with their bestselling books For Women Only and For Men Only, they will use this research to provide the answers and insights you need to break the tension and provide the unity you're looking for. Let this book deepen your understanding of each other, leading to clear communication, peace as a couple, and better financial decision-making.Also available: video curriculum and discussion guide.

    We've all been hurt and wanted the other person to help us heal. It may be surprising, but the breaches themselves aren't the real problem; our inability to fix them is what causes us trouble.In A Good Apology, Dr. Molly Howes uses her experiences with patients in her practice, research findings, and news stories to illustrate the power and importance of a thorough apology. She teaches how we can all learn to craft an effective apology with four straightforward steps.An apology is a small-scale event between people, but it's enormously powerful. This comprehensive book gives readers the tools to fix their relationships, make amends, and move forward. With it, you'll fully understand the meaning and importance of this universal and timeless endeavor: a good apology.

    them" mentality. The Sacred Overlap communicates a refreshing vision that embraces tension and shows us how to live in radical love and faithfulness between the extremes that isolate and divide people.The gospels display how Jesus was committed to crossing the either/or waters of the cultural and societal wars of his day. His miracles and parables often broke or ignored religious and political lines that seemed all important. He comforted the disturbed and disturbed the comfortable.Using Jesus' example, J. R. Briggs offers a fresh and relevant understanding of evangelism and discipleship in our present time of extreme polarization. Without sacrificing biblical integrity, The Sacred Overlap is a joyful exploration of the complexity of life in the peace of Christ. With careful discernment, Briggs:Shares creative ways to engage with God's mission of ministering to those who are intrigued by Jesus but turned off by church.Explores what it means to be joyful in the midst of heart-wrenching pain and earthly suffering.Models what it means to maintain a posture of convicted civility which emphasizes both grace and truth.The Sacred Overlap helps readers see how Christians are called to live with their feet firmly planted in two different worlds—in both heaven and earth—living naturally with both the sacred and the ordinary. Only then can a Christian be a faithful witness and disciple of Jesus.

    

    But when our personal convictions are contested by fellow Christians, everything changes. We feel attacked from behind. When other Christians doubt or deny our convictions, we don't experience it as a mere difference of opinion, but as a violation of an unspoken agreement. Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer offer a guide to help Christians navigate disagreements with one another. In today's polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How do we discern between core biblical convictions and secondary issues? How do we cultivate better understanding and compassion for those we disagree with? Muehlhoff and Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to avoid the dangers of groupthink and how to negotiate differing biblical convictions to avoid church splits and repair interpersonal ruptures. Christian unity is possible. Discover how we can navigate differences by speaking in both truth and love.

    Facing down the miscreants purveying false etiquette rules (no, you may not wait a year to send a thank-you note for a gift and yes, in an age of social-media-encouraged over-familiarity you can politely refuse to answer nosy questions), Miss Manners guides you through these turbulent times with her timeless wisdom and archly acid wit.

    But there’s no reason this should include you and your company. Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away) spells out, step by step, how to craft a customer service culture and customer experience so powerful that they’ll transform your organization and boost your company’s bottom line.You’ll enjoy inspirational, often hilarious, tales from the trenches as author Micah Solomon, one of the world’s best-known customer service consultants, relates hands-on adventures about assessing and improving customer service in various industries.You’ll spend time behind the scenes with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and discover how the company delivers “wow” customer service. From Richard Branson, you’ll learn how Virgin brands deliver authentic customer service (avoiding what Branson calls “Stepford Customer Service”) and Branson’s secrets for turning social media attackers into brand promoters.Drawing on a wealth of stories personally assembled from today’s most innovative and successful companies, including Amazon, Cleveland Clinic, Drybar, USAA Insurance, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Solomon reveals what it takes to turn a ho-hum customer interaction into one that drives customer engagement and lifelong loyalty.

    Now you can learn this astonishing method directly from the expert who created this technique and pioneered it for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Program. Filled with easy-to-follow, accessible lessons reinforced by fascinating stories of how to put these skills into action using natural human behaviors, The Truth Detector shows you all of the tips and techniques you need to gain someone’s trust and get liars to reveal the truth.

       Each year, sales professionals leave billions of dollars on the table because they are out gunned, out maneuvered, and out played by savvy buyers, who have been schooled in the art and science of negotiation. Because today’s buyers have more power than ever before—more information, more at stake, and more control over the buying process—they almost always enter sales negotiations in a much stronger position than the salespeople on the other side of the table. The results are sadly predictable: salespeople and their companies end up on the losing end of the deal. In this brutal paradigm, if you fail to master the skills, strategies, and tactics to go toe-to-toe with modern buyers and win at the sales negotiation table, your income and long-term earning potential will suffer—along with your company’s growth, profits, and market valuation.   In his new book INKED: The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics that Unlock YES and Seal the Deal, Jeb Blount levels the playing field by giving you the strategies, tactics, techniques, skills, and human-influence frameworks required to become a powerful and effective sales negotiator.  In his signature, straightforward style, Jeb pulls no punches. He slaps you right in the face with the cold, hard truth and lays bare the reasons why you keep getting beaten by buyers who have been trained in how to play you. Then, he teaches you exactly what you need to know, do, and say to gain more control and more power over the outcomes of your deals, and WIN. You’ll learn: Seven Immutable Rules of Sales Negotiation Why “Win-Win” Usually Means “You-Lose” The One Rule of Sales Negotiation You Must Never Break How to Leverage the Powerful MLP Strategy to Bend Win Probability in Your Favor The ACED Buyer Persona Model and How to Flex to Buyer Communication Styles Seven Principles of Effective Sales Negotiation Communication How to Leverage the DEAL Sales Negotiation Framework to Control the Negotiation Conversation and Get Ink How to Gain the Advantage with Comprehensive Sales Negotiation Planning Strategies and Tools Powerful Negotiation Psychology and Influence Frameworks that Keep You in Control of the Conversation How to Rise Above the Seven Disruptive Emotions that are Holding You Back at the Sales Negotiation Table  How to Protect Yourself from the Psychological Games that Buyers Play With these powerful tactics in your sales arsenal, you will approach sales negotiations with the confidence and power to take control of the conversation and get the prices, terms, and conditions that you deserve. INKED is the most comprehensive Sales Negotiation resource ever developed for the sales profession. Unlike so many other negotiating books that ignore the reality sellers face in the rapid-fire, real world of the sales profession, INKED is a sales-specific negotiation primer. You’ll learn directly from one of the most sought-after and celebrated sales trainers of our generation. Following in the footsteps of his blockbuster bestsellers Fanatical Prospecting, Sales EQ, and Objections, Jeb Blount's INKED puts the same strategies employed by his clients—a who’s who of the world’s most prestigious or

    The author describes human behavior in an analytical language, using algorithm and data metaphors. This will help you understand the human equation and excel at communication.Filled with academic insights, exercises, and stories, this book will change your career.

    And reveals its most powerful antidote...In The Emotionally Abused Woman, therapist Beverly Engel introduced the concept of emotional abuse, one of the most subtle, yet devastating forms of abuse within a relationship. Now Engel exposes the most destructive technique the abuser uses to break our spirit and gain control--and guides readers on how to free themselves from the shame that can keep them from the life (and the love) they deserve.Emotionally abused people are gradually stripped of self-esteem, dignity, and humanity--making them feel unworthy and utterly powerless to escape. But they possess a potent tool with which to combat shame: self-compassion. In these pages, Engel shows how to access it. Using her highly effective Shame Reduction Program, she helps readers jumpstart the process of recovery by offering specific steps to help heal, regain self-confidence--and ultimately become empowered enough to leave--for good.An invaluable resource for both men and women who suffer from emotional abuse, as well as therapists and advocates, Escaping Emotional Abuse is a supportive, nurturing guide for anyone seeking to break the chains of shame, and gain the emotional freedom to create healthier, lasting relationships.

    What if communication was your superpower? What if every member of your team had perfect clarity about your intentions and expectations? And what if you had perfect insight into theirs? What if you and your team said yes only to things that moved your business forward and were skilled at saying no to everything else? What if every meeting, every email, and every project plan left no doubt about about the intended outcome? What if you and your team could communicate as effectively when working remotely as you do in person?How would that change the culture of your business? What would it do for the morale of your team?That's a picture of clarity that will transform your workplace, and No-Fail Communication can make that a reality for you and your team.

    From the age of five through our late teens and beyond, our education system teaches us how to read and write. Why is it that we're never taught to speak?In 2010, while interviewing hundreds of Americans about their experiences with love, award-winning journalist John Bowe unearthed the story of his cousin Bill, a recluse who lived in his parents' basement until the age of fifty-nine. After a lifetime of being the family oddball, Bill surprised everyone around him by breaking out of his isolation--and getting happily married. He credited his turnaround to a nonprofit club called Toastmasters, the world's largest organization devoted to teaching the art of public speaking.Fascinated by the possibility that speech training could foster the kind of psychological well-being more commonly sought through expensive psychiatric treatment, and intrigued by the notion that words might serve as medicine, Bowe researched the discipline of public speaking back to the teachings of the Ancient Greeks, who invented the subject 2,300 years ago.From the birth of democracy until two or three centuries ago, education meant reading and writing, as it does today; but it also meant learning how to speak and interact with others. Public speaking was, in fact, the most highly stressed of all liberal arts. Today, absent such education, 74% of Americans suffer from speech anxiety. As social scientists chart record levels of loneliness, social isolation, and political divisiveness, Bowe muses upon the power of speech education to mend a nation no longer skilled at speaking to itself.Setting out to learn for himself what he'd gathered from so many others, Bowe discovers that learning to speak in public means more than simply overcoming nervousness while standing at a podium. Acquiring the basic, old-school artistic techniques for connecting with others bestows us with an enhanced sense of freedom, power, and belonging--while teaching us to give a decent speech. In an age of disconnect and fraying public discourse, anyone (well, almost anyone) can learn to become eloquent.

    As the workplace evolves in the direction of innovation, digitalization, and rapid change, leaders must follow suit in order to remain relevant and engaging to this multigenerational workforce. This book provides concrete advice and best practices on how to engage and retain top talent. It addresses several areas to focus on to future proof yourself and your business. In this book you will discover strategies to: •Become the leader your team needs you to be. •Accelerate talent development.• •Reshape your culture. •Reskill your workforce. •Create an innovation mindset. •Succeed with purpose. The future is no longer some far-off destination; it is already here. Don’t be caught off guard!

    We're given information, but not understanding. Figure It Out looks at various ways you can help people make sense of confusing information. It shows you how to think about information as a resource that makes sense of confusing topics. This is THE guide for working with information.

    Whether you want to speak at your next board meeting or community gathering, start making some extra money on the side, or become a full-time professional speaker, Grant Baldwin knows how to get you from here to there. Why? Because he's done it himself and has coached over 2,000 speakers.In The Successful Speaker, you will learn the five-step road map to start and scale a speaking business from the ground up, including- how to hone your message and know exactly who it's for- the preparation process to help your next speech move an audience to action- what it takes to establish yourself as an in-demand expert- practical steps to finding and booking paid speaking gigs- how to know when it's time to grow your impact and incomeIn each chapter, you will get specific action steps and case studies from professional speakers (including some of the most successful communicators in the world) to put you on the fast track to booking gigs, getting paid, and building your speaking platform.

    Relationships are complicated. Yet it’s an unfortunate reality that while most of us have to learn complex geometry that we’ll probably never use, we don’t get a single formal lesson in how to relate to others. In this comprehensive guidebook, Joy reveals the common psychological dynamics that underlie all kinds of relationships: with a romantic partner, friends, family members, colleagues—in short, with anyone in any situation. Understanding these dynamics can enable you to make all your relationships healthier and more resilient, and help you contribute to creating a better world. Drawing on the most relevant research as well as on her own extensive experience as a psychologist, Joy explains how to strengthen your “relational immune system” to resist not only interpersonal stressors but also largely invisible yet potentially devastating societal stressors like racism and sexism. With this understanding, you can cultivate relationships that consistently reflect core moral values and honor the dignity of everyone involved. Resilient relationships are a source of joy and fulfillment for those who are in them—and they also support the thriving of the organizations and communities of which we all are a part.

    Such was the case with Laura Zam, who suffered the blame, shame, and embarrassment of feeling bedroom broken.  For her, delving between the sheets meant physical pain, zero desire, and emotional scars from being molested in her early years. However, in her late forties, after meeting and marrying the love of her life, Zam was determined to finally fix her sensual self.    This is her brave and bawdy plan to triage her flaccid romantic life, stepping into a void where intimacy, self-love, and playfulness could be experienced--the full monty of Eros that had been missing from her existence. The Pleasure Plan is what happened when she decided to challenge her hopelessness. In partnership with her initially reluctant husband, she visited 15 healers and tried 30 pleasure-enhancing methods: from dilators and dildos, to hypnosis and hosting a sex brunch, to cleansing chakras, to making love to her husband in front of a geriatric Tantric goddess. Packed with humor, heart, and a healthy dose of prescriptive advice, this book chronicles Zam’s insight as she confronts many issues—from mismatched libidos to female erection enlightenment. Throughout this journey, she and her husband grow as individuals and as a couple, both in and out of the bedroom. Fearlessly honest and full of inspiration, Zam peels back the layers—or covers—and exposes her foibles, insecurities, and eventual wisdom as she excavates past traumas, accepts and embraces her worth, and claims her right to be completely alive.  Today, Laura works as a sexuality educator, wellness coach, and speaker helping other women who suffer from sexual dysfunction, the effects of trauma, or those who would simply like more pleasure (of all kinds) in their lives. She also consults with health care providers so they may better assist their clients in achieving sexual well-being.   While The Pleasure Plan is Zam’s personal narrative, it demystifies pervasive taboos, encouraging women to make pleasure a priority, while teaching them how to claim (or reclaim) the power of their sexual selves. It also shows men how they can support their partners in this #Metoo era. Healthy, sultry intimacy is a right; it is time for women to learn—through glorious trial and error—how to embrace the sensual side of themselves. . . exuberantly and unabashedly.

    

    Mir describes a universe in which the news now chases the reader rather than the other way around. Everything is told in a wonderful epigrammatic style – you will be digging up quotes from it for years. – Martin Gurri, author of “The Revolt of the Public”.– The most important book in media theory that has been written in 40 years. – Paul Levinson, author of “Digital McLuhan”.– Andrey Mir’s “Postjournalism” offers a powerful, sweeping narrative of how news media have evolved over the centuries. – Arnold Kling, economist, author of “Crisis of Abundance” and “Invisible Wealth”.– In his book “Postjournalism and the Death of Newspapers”, Mir is here partly to praise newspapers, partly to bury them, but mostly to explain why their death is (a) inevitable and (b) a very big deal. He communicates this with a history of news media and a blizzard of concepts and neologisms. – Danyl Mclauchlan, “The Spinoff,” New Zealand.– As Mir argues, this change in the economic structure of the news media has quietly transformed journalism from a theoretically neutral means of “manufacturing consent” into a political cause that people are rallied into supporting, usually by inciting them to some form of outrage. – Murtaza Hussain, “The Intercept”....Hundreds of thousands of today’s students have never even touched a newspaper. The market is already ready to drop newspapers, but society is not yet. The last newspaper generation's habits will preserve at least some demand for newspapers for a while. Newspapers will exist as an industrial product for no longer than the mid-2030s. Some vintage use of newspapers may remain afterwards, but it will be a matter of arts, not industry.The least obvious and yet most shocking aspect of the newspapers’ decline is the fact that it reflects the fate of journalism, not just a carrier. This is neither a cyclical crisis nor a matter of transition; this is the end of an era.“Postjournalism and the death of newspapers” unveils the economic and cultural mechanisms of agenda-setting in the news media at the final stage of their historical existence. As advertising has fled to the internet and was absorbed there almost entirely by the Google-Facebook duopoly, the news media have been forced to switch to another source of funding – selling content to readers. However, they cannot sell news because news is already known to people from social media newsfeeds. Instead, the media offers the validation of already-known news within a certain value system and the delivery of the “right” news to others.This business necessity forces the media to relocate the gravity of their operation from news to values. Media outlets are increasingly soliciting subscriptions as donations to a cause. To attract donations, they have to focus on “pressing social issues”. The need to pursue reader revenue and therefore the dependence on the audience, with the news no longer being a commodity, is pushing journalism to mutate into postjournalism. Journalism wants its picture to match the world; postjournalism wants the world to match its picture.The ad-driven media manufactured consent. The reader-driven media manufacture anger. The former served consumerism. The latter serve polarization.The author explores polarization as a media effect. Andrey Mir (Andrey Miroshnichenko) is a media expert and journalist with twenty years in the print media. He is the author of “Human as Media. The Emancipation of Authorship” (2014) and a number of books on media and politics. Twitter: @Andrey4Mir.

    In addition to sharing modern twists on classics and beloved heirloom recipes from her family's cookbooks (not to worry, no archaic methods or hard-to-find ingredients here), Courtney provides tips throughout to make the most of your gathering: try embellishing a plate with edible flower petals or create mini versions of a well-known dessert.Courtney continues to be a trusted resource for creating delicious, party-friendly food to enhance any meal and every party. Consider this the only Southern cookbook primer you need.Courtney Whitmore is a well-known stylist and blogger in the field of party design and entertaining. Her expertise has been seen in HGTV.com, Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, AOL's DIY Life, Get Married Magazine, MarthaStewart.com, and more. She is the author of Pizzazzerie: Entertain in Style, Frostings, Push-Up Pops, and Candy Making for Kids. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

    Fancy Pants Tower is the biggest, shiniest building in the city. And Wolfred operates the lift.Each day he silently observes the extraordinary things he sees as he passes between the floors of the tower. To his boss, Wolfred isn’t important enough to notice. But Wolfred notices everything – big or small, normal or very, very strange ... Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel meets Helen Oxenbury’s The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig in this hilariously oddball tale of Wolfred, an endearing elevator operator and writer, and the strange building he works in.

    

    W—Warmth. E—Energy. When all else is equal—education, work ethic, intelligence, experience, ambition—the single biggest factor in winning business, promotions, friendships, or followers hinges on our ability to communicate and connect. Mastering AWE gives you an unparalleled advantage over the competition, no matter your field.  Herz, who has represented and coached dozens of sports, media, and entertainment leaders over the course of nearly three decades, delivers a step-by-step program that helps you understand and hone your AWE skills. Packed with inspiring success stories, grounded in the latest social psychology and scientific research, and featuring "insider" anecdotes from some of the most popular entrepreneurs and professionals in broadcasting, sports, and the corporate world—many personally coached by Herz—Don’t Take YES for An Answer provides invaluable suggestions and practical techniques for “upping” your AWE in every aspect of your life.

    

    With Radical Alignment, top-level life and business coaches (and happily married couple) Alexandra Jamieson and Bob Gower share their potent method for helping groups to stop clashing and start working together—to jump from “we can’t” to an enthusiastic “hell yes!”The essential tool at the heart of Radical Alignment is the All-In Method: a four-step approach to communication designed to increase clarity, minimize miscommunication, honor each person’s individuality, and build a shared sense of trust and respect for long-term success. With easy-to-follow instruction, Jamieson and Gower bring you:• The Foundations of Great Communication—what works, what doesn’t, and how to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your own style• The All-In Method—a step-by-step walk-through of this proven approach to getting into radical alignment with others• The Method in Action—examples and exercises for using the All-In Method at work, at home, and in any situation• Scripts, suggestions, guidance, and additional resources for making this a lifelong practice for greater connection and intimacy “We believe passionately that the world needs more aligned teams in our businesses, organizations, communities, families, and intimate partnerships,” write the authors. “This means we need people who are able to have powerful and clear exchanges that build better connections.” Radical Alignment brings you a “low drama, high joy” technique to transform the way you collaborate and communicate in every area of your life.

    This book started from the wish to apply the perspective of a cultural studies scholar in order to investigate the fandom ARMY as a most ardent outcome to arise from a “community of taste.” On a personal level, the most pressing question was which vantage point to assume for myself. While research is a language of rigorous logic, criticism is a language of warm interpretation―or in the words of Terry Eagleton, “a sensitivity to the thickness and intricacy of the medium.” If research is to approach something through objectivity and tested theories, this book can be understood as a work of criticism for general readers, written by an Aca-Fan (academic and fan) who lets her affection shine through. BTS and ARMY Culture illuminates how ARMY, which is a kind of imaginary community of BTS-loving fans, has created epistemic distance towards standard K-pop culture and cements BTS’ status in global mainstream music via tangible fan practices. To this aim, I analyze social media and online fan communities that serve as discursive spaces for ARMY, and observe in particular how ARMY forges BTS’ cultural status by compromising and negotiating with mass media that hold cultural power. This book revolves around these general aspects, and rather than posing as a work of theoretical criticism, its identity resembles an archival document that captures the dynamics of ARMY in the contemporary cultural landscape. For ARMY, I hope that this book is valuable as a neat documentation of their achievements. To those who are curious about ARMY, I hope that this book can serve as a ‘full-scale anatomy of ARMY.’

    So how do you reverse-engineer relationships with the exact people you want to know?Through his podcast B2B Growth and his company Sweet Fish Media, James Carbary has pioneered a concept called content-based networking—a new approach to building your professional network. Instead of relying on chance encounters and random in-person events, content-based networking allows you to connect with anyone, at any time, and from anywhere in the world.In Content-Based Networking, you'll learn a proven five-part framework to consistently connect with potential customers, investors, referral partners, industry influencers, and anyone in between. Using this framework, you'll develop thought leadership in your industry, while simultaneously creating meaningful relationships with the exact people that can help you reach your goals and dreams.

    Make It Clear explains how to communicate--how to speak and write to get your ideas across. Written by an MIT professor who taught his students these techniques for more than forty years, the book starts with the basics--finding your voice, organizing your ideas, making sure what you say is remembered, and receiving critiques ("do not ask for brutal honesty")--and goes on to cover such specifics as preparing slides, writing and rewriting, and even choosing a type family.The book explains why you should start with an empowerment promise and conclude by noting you delivered on that promise. It describes how a well-crafted, explicitly identified slogan, symbol, salient idea, surprise, and story combine to make you and your work memorable. The book lays out the VSN-C (Vision, Steps, News-Contributions) framework as an organizing structure and then describes how to create organize your ideas with a "broken-glass" outline, how to write to be understood, how to inspire, how to defeat writer's block--and much more. Learning how to speak and write well will empower you and make you smarter. Effective communication can be life-changing--making use of just one principle in this book can get you the job, make the sale, convince your boss, inspire a student, or even start a revolution.

    This companion workbook, Love Skills, is a practical guide to creating and maintaining a loving relationship. Exercises, activities, self-assessments, and other concrete tools allow readers to understand where they are in their relationship. Carroll addresses such thorny issues as the loss of sexual energy, why what once seemed endearing is now annoying, and the many ways that family history and personality type can wreak havoc in relationships. Her well-researched practices help keep love alive in the midst of seemingly intractable differences, and specific, effective solutions to couples’ most common struggles provide a clear map for moving forward. Most important, Carroll’s couple-tested techniques allow readers to deal with conflict without losing connection, and show that conflict, when navigated properly, can lead to renewed closeness and unprecedented connection.

    This book serves as your tour guide for listening and learning about how racism impacts our daily lives.The journey begins with an examination of your heart and mind to ensure that you are prepared for growth and continues with specific pointers on what you can do. Be Bold equips you with tools to become bolder in your daily interactions, discussions, and actions!Grab some coffee, assemble a Growth Group, and prepare your heart and mind for this transformational and life-changing process as you work towards racial reconciliation and harmony.

    The interactive program will enhance not only your dog's performance, but also your overall relationship with your dog. With this workbook, learn the core concepts of dog training, and apply those concepts in training 30 different tricks. As you work from level to level, you will master the key elements of dog training—timing, technique, motivation, and building on known behaviors—as you achieve a stronger bond with your dog. Each section concludes with review quizzes and prompts to re-evaluate your knowledge, your dog's progress, and your relationship. The tricks are explained with step-by-step instructional text and photos, with space for notes and logging your progress, and range from basic (Sit, Shake Hands, Paws Up) to advanced (Newspaper Delivery, Tidy Up Your Toys, Get a Soda from the Fridge). With this complete curriculum in dog tricks, you will establish a conscious and consistent pattern of relating to your dog in a meaningful partnership based on trust, communication, and respect.

    The recent pandemic crisis stressed out the need for empathic and flexible organisations even more acutely. A new shift in consciousness is happening and founders need more than ever to build purpose-driven and authentic organisations. A handful of pioneers have cracked the code but the world is now craving for better working conditions, higher calling and better work life balance.Companies are made of people and people can make or break companies!In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that investing time in designing the right organisation and management framework is not an option anymore for businesses to thrive. She shares a very practical approach to building organisations which are people-driven and performing.Leaders, founders, coaches and consultants will find this book a useful blueprint full of insights, examples and inspiring stories."From Zero to 1,000 is a practical and insightful handbook for founders and leaders, drawing on Anne's superb experience helping build some of the most innovative companies in the world." Laszlo Bock, Former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, Founder of Humu.

    Amid the cacophony of ugly political invective that dominates nearly every space today—including church—only God has the power to unify and heal through his truth and goodness, revealed in his beauty. And every Sunday, those in the pulpit have the opportunity and responsibility to share this beauty with their parishioners. Tapping into a long tradition that can be traced back to Augustine, Michael Pasquarello explores a theological definition of beauty that has tremendous revelatory power in a post-Christendom world. A church manifesting this beauty is not merely a gathering of people, but a place where God’s new creation appears in the midst of the old creation, ushered in by a pastor willing to make God the primary actor within the doxological craft of preaching.

    Yet those who are called to ministry may feel unprepared, unable, or unwilling to step into this role. Moreover, the discipline of homiletics sometimes gets lost amid the exegetical questions, theological debates, and denominational disputes that overwhelm our attention. In this brief introduction to preaching, Matthew Kim helps to prepare those called to preach the Word. A seasoned preacher himself, Kim provides proven insight and guidance about the importance and history of preaching, the characteristics of faithful preaching, and the personal habits of a faithful preacher. With his help, both those training for ministry and those new to the pastoral task will be encouraged as they undertake their calling.

    

    

    Collected for the first time in The Art of Mu Pan, are works that exemplify his recent output and that have made him a celebrated artist in Europe and the United States.    Incorporating cultural influence from his home country of Taiwan, as well as techniques inspired by Edo-era Japan and iconic images from pop culture, Mu Pan’s work is both timeless and hyper-modern.

    This change can’t happen through force, edict or persuasion. The future will be built through conversation - and Good Talk will show you how.Good Talk is a step-by-step framework to effect change in your personal and professional conversations. With dozens of tools and interactive components, Good Talk is a handbook to navigate the conversations that matter.What’s Inside: How to see the structure of conversations. Life is built one messy, slippery conversation at a time. While conversations feel hard to hold onto, ebbing and flowing, back and forth and into eventual silence, they each have a structure. The first step to changing your conversations is seeing what’s going on between the silence. What is your Conversation Operating System? Who gets invited to the conversation? Who speaks first? Where does the conversation take place? What happens if someone messes up? In every conversation, there are elements that guide the exchange. The nine elements of the Conversation OS Canvas can help you to shift the direction of your conversations. What is your conversational range? Conversations are more than dialogue. From the conversations in your head to the complex conversation that is your organization, you need to design conversations that matter across a huge range of sizes. Learn to master conversations from the boardroom and beyond. How to design conversations that matter. The world needs fresh, creative conversations that are alive, and that work for all the people involved. How can you design conversations that matter? Leadership means designing the conditions for these conversations to happen. Learn the patterns and principles to make change possible.

    The perfect story for teaching young children the importance of apologies and apologizing.Scribble and Swoop are the best of friends - until the day they have a TERRIBLE ARGUMENT! Which friend will be the first to say, "I'm Sorry"? And can an apology fix their precious friendship?

    A controlling partner, through fear and intimidation, will seek to ensure their victim is subdued, to the point of accepting any and all abuse that's fired their way. By manipulation, gas-lighting, lies, and hurtful insults, the abuser will make their victim a willing puppet on a string, ready to be utilized how the controlling spouse sees fit.'COERCIVE CONTROL' is seldom talked about in comparison to other forms of abuse, yet it's so commonplace in relationships. Plenty of victims of this type of behavior may not even be aware that's it's full-blown abuse. Many more see controlling behavior as their partner's way of showing they 'care'. In order to shed light on this topic, and reach out to those who need help in understanding and overcoming a controlling partner, I have created this book as their starting point.I was shackled to a malignant narcissist for many years of my life, being controlled and manipulated, day-in, day-out. As a proud survivor of abuse, I feel obligated to help others in their journey towards getting their power back and recovering from the cruel effects of an abusive relationship. This book will cover the following:● What coercive control is● The devastating effects of a controlling relationship● Financial coercion● Breaking the spell of abuse● Coercive control after separatingI use my own experiences, as well as those of the survivors I've connected with via 'Escape the Narcissist' to help piece together the things you need to know about this type of abusive relationship.Together, we will reclaim our power.RUNNING TIME ⇒ 1hr. and 48mins.©2020 Lauren Kozlowski (P)2020 Lauren Kozlowski

    This book meets the needs of two cohorts in particular: 1) young preachers developing their skills who need structure, a process, and hope, and 2) more seasoned preachers who may have "settled" needing tools to invigorate their preparation and inspire their delivery.Paul told the Corinthians: "When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn't come preaching God's secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified." (I Corinthians 2:1-2, CEB)Author Talbot Davis shares the insights and habits that will empower the reader's preaching and teaching to be:Both creative and disciplined; Both carefully prepared and thoroughly spontaneous; and Both rooted in history and connected to modernity. Simple is the opposite of simplistic. Sermons with clear & unmistakable focus are best able to pulumb the depths not only of Gospel beauty but of the hearers' lives.

    It is also a throwback to the early internet. The website has barely seen an upgrade since it launched in 1996. There are no banner ads. The company doesn't profit off your data. An Internet for the People explores how people use craigslist to buy and sell, find work, and find love--and reveals why craigslist is becoming a lonely outpost in an increasingly corporatized web.Drawing on interviews with craigslist insiders and ordinary users, Jessa Lingel looks at the site's history and values, showing how it has mostly stayed the same while the web around it has become more commercial and far less open. She examines craigslist's legal history, describing the company's courtroom battles over issues of freedom of expression and data privacy, and explains the importance of locality in the social relationships fostered by the site. More than an online garage sale, job board, or dating site, craigslist holds vital lessons for the rest of the web. It is a website that values user privacy over profits, ease of use over slick design, and an ethos of the early web that might just hold the key to a more open, transparent, and democratic internet.

    

    Compassionate Conversations empowers us to transform these conversations into opportunities to bridge divides and mend relationships by providing the basic set of skills we need to be successful, including listening, reframing, and dealing with strong emotions. Addressing the long history of injury and pain for marginalized groups, the authors explore topics like social privilege, power dynamics, and, political correctness allowing us to be more mindful in our conversations. Each chapter contains practices and reflection questions to help readers feel more prepared to talk through polarizing issues, ultimately encouraging us to take risks, to understand and recognize our deep commonalities, to be willing to make mistakes, and to become more intimate with expressing our truths, as well as listening to those of others.

    With straightforward answers to some of the most challenging moral issues disrupting the church, this book will help you build your confidence using three simple steps to becoming a conversant Christian. Each chapter begins with a true story, clarifies misconceptions and misunderstandings about the subject, and equips you to build rapport, ask the right questions, find points of agreement, and take the next fruitful step in the relationship. Because even if we disagree on a moral issue, that shouldn't make us mortal enemies.

    The trouble is, families keep leaving, and soon they won’t have enough players for a team. But when Milly learns at school about the refugees who have nowhere to live, she has a great idea – invite them to Gong Gong!

    June is forty-eight, a writer and teacher, and over the following decade watches as her husband changes — in interests, goals, and behaviour — until Tony has a fall, ending the life they had known. A diagnosis is seven years away, yet the signs of Alzheimer’s are all around. A suitcase Tony packs for a trip is jammed with four umbrellas, a visual symbol of cognitive looping. But how far back do these signs go? The couple starts probing the past and finding answers. This is not an old person’s disease.

    Simply forbidding these conversations is just sweeping a problem under the rug. Award-winning diversity and inclusion consultant Mary-Frances Winters has been leading workshops on what she calls Bold, Inclusive Conversations for years. She offers specific dialogue techniques to foster greater understanding across diversity: - Identifying words, phrases and topics that can be triggering to some groups and avoiding or reframing them to open dialogue rather than shut it down - Dealing with the "fragility" of dominant groups--the extreme reluctance to engage with the concerns of nondominant groups - Addressing the fatigue historically marginalized groups feel from constantly explaining their experience - Understanding the difference between dialogue and debateThis is a comprehensive guide for leaders who want to create brave spaces for dialogue and facilitate discussions on potentially polarizing topics.

    Willimon makes the compelling case that two key pastoral tasks--preaching and leadership--complement, correct, strengthen, and inform one another. Preaching is the distinctive function of pastoral leaders. Leadership of the church, particularly during a challenging time of transition in mainline Protestantism, has become a pressing concern for pastors. This book shows how the practices, skills, and intentions of Christian preaching can be helpful to the leadership of a congregation.

    First, we will walk through the entire process of writing an article, from pitch to content, editing to publication. Next, we will explore the process in action with three full sample articles. Finally, we will discuss the business of writing and how to turn your newfound confidence in the article- writing process into a profitable side gig or even full-time employment. Along the way, we will hear from successful members of the software/writing community about their best practices. These excerpts are lightly edited for readability. Full transcripts of each interview are available in Appendix A, and I encourage you to read all eleven complete interviews as they are loaded with valuable insights.

    Readers will learn from the real experts in the field: how Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, built purpose into the DNA of his company; what keeps Alan Jope (new CEO, Unilever) and Emmanuel Faber (CEO, Danone) awake at night; and how brand developers from Durex, Dove, Discovery and LIXIL have made choices and the reasons behind them. In this book you will learn how a soap brand Lifebuoy taught one billion people about hygiene, how a beer is tackling gender-based violence, and how a toothpaste is tackling school absenteeism amongst many others. Renowned experts like Peter Piot (Director, London School of Health and Tropical Medicine), Michael Porter (Professor, Harvard School of Business), Jane Nelson (Director, Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School) and Susie Orbach (leading feminist and formerly professor, London School of Economics) also share examples, data and their everyday experiences of helping corporates create a culture of purpose. And leading NGOs and UN experts like Lawrence Haddad (Executive Director, GAIN) and Natalia Kanem (Executive Director of UNFPA) will recount how the public and private sector have worked together to create an accelerated path to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.The book provides a clear pathway of how to take brands through the journey of developing impactful social missions and driving business growth, and is an essential guide for both managers and students alike.

    

    But it still isn’t easy or natural for many.Being transparent and comfortable sharing vulnerability with the right people, in the right way, allows us to enhance not just our sense of wellbeing but also our creativity, productivity, mental resilience and the likelihood of achieving our goals.In Just Ask, Andy Lopata explores the change in mindset needed to embrace the support of our networks and the power of doing so. He discusses the impact that transparency can have on individual and collective achievement and illustrates with case studies based on exclusive interviews how it has already affected people from all walks of life.

    It might be too late when you find yourself with low self-esteem, isolated and confused. With several abusive manipulation tactics, a Gaslighter can make you question your reality and accept theirs. As a victim, you start feeling uncertain of the smallest situations, doubting your own actions and personality. What you should know, is that there are ways to shut down gaslighting effect, either if you choose to evade or live with a narcissist. In this book you will discover: Specific reasons why Gaslighting can be dangerous The ways the Narcissist can take possession of your mind How Gaslighting can be hidden in several circumstances and environments The most powerful ways to disarm a narcissist and coping strategies Ways to shut down manipulation in its infancy How to get your self-esteem back Consequences of choosing to live with a Gaslighter Important strategies in order to restore your life and build confidence back Important facts: When feeling mentally abused, it might take a while before you actually understand it is time to face the problem and seek for support. You may be struggling with a lack of confidence and probably question yourself over anything you say, think and do. What you need to know, is that the environment around you can be the cause of it, and you slowly fall victim of something completely unknown and unexpected, such as gaslighting.Even if you believe there’s no way out, consider whether or not you should really, logically be doubting yourself and with this book you can find several ways to get better, be in charge of yourself and break free! Remember: Your life IS in your own hands If you want to start your recovery, then click the “Buy Now" button and get your book instantly!

    Just as the birth of the modern woman has long been imagined as the death of sentimental feeling, modernist literary innovation has been understood to reject sentimental aesthetics. Modern Sentimentalism reframes these perceptions of cultural evolution. Taking up icons such as the New Woman, the flapper, the free lover, the New Negro woman, and the divorcee, this book argues that these figures embody aspects of a traditional sentimentality while also recognizing sentiment as incompatible with ideals of modern selfhood. These double binds equally beleaguer the protagonists and shape the styles of writers like Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Anita Loos, and Jessie Fauset. 'Modern sentimentalism' thus translates nineteenth-century conventions of sincerity and emotional fulfillment into the skeptical, self-conscious modes of interwar cultural production.Reading canonical and under-examined novels in concert with legal briefs, scientific treatises, and other transatlantic period discourse, and combining traditional and quantitative methods of archival research, Modern Sentimentalism demonstrates that feminine feeling, far from being peripheral to twentieth-century modernism, animates its central principles and preoccupations.

    At the same time, they have weathered their own challenges at home: raising four daughters, two biological and two adopted, and dealing with one child’s mental health and behavioral issues. What they’ve learned about saving a marriage or knowing when to call it quits, when to turn to professionals or when to try tough love, could fill a book—and it does.   The Five Core Conversations for Couples tackles every corner of relationships with the wisdom, knowledge, and best advice culled from David and Julie’s unique personal and professional experiences, organized topically into the five core reasons that people come to their offices. Topics include:DisabilityAbuseSerious illnessEstrangementAnd much, much moreTake a look inside the hearts and minds of two marriage professionals to gain a fresh perspective into your own relationships and to have valuable and more frequent conversations with those you love.

    Applying lessons from the Hebrew revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to contemporary endangeredlanguages, Zuckermann takes readers along a fascinating and multifaceted journey into language revival and provides new insights into language genesis.Beginning with a critical analysis of Israeli-the language resulting from the Hebrew revival-Zuckermann's radical theory contradicts conventional accounts of the Hebrew revival and challenges the family tree model of historical linguistics. Revivalistics demonstrates how grammaticalcross-fertilization with the revivalists' mother tongues is inevitable in the case of successful revival languages. The second part of the book then applies these lessons from the Israeli language to revival movements in Australia and globally, describing the why and how of revivalistics. Withexamples from the Barngarla Aboriginal language of South Australia, Zuckermann proposes ethical, aesthetic, and utilitarian reasons for language revival and offers practical methods for reviving languages.Based on years of the author's research, fieldwork, and personal experience with language revivals all over the globe, Revivalistics offers ground-breaking theoretical and pragmatic contributions to the field of language reclamation, revitalization, and reinvigoration.

    Brown, with her extensive experience both in parish ministry and training others for ministry, shares preaching strategies that equip these ordinary prophets to take daring action. Brown begins by reconsidering the power and limits of the missional model of Christian witness and argues that Christian witness today must be adaptive, and therefore imaginative and improvisational. She then turns to the connection between the sermons our listeners hear on Sunday and their capacity to timely, inventive action in everyday situations. Sunday’s Sermon for Monday’s World will inspire both preachers and those who listen to them to move from sanctuary to street, week after week, eager to discern and participate in the ongoing, redemptive work of God already under way amid the ordinary scenes and settings of their Monday-to-Saturday lives.

    

    

    As a result, the body is a hard-wired, powerful presence in thought and speech. Rooted in the Body: Arabic Metaphor and Morphology considers this basic premise of linguistic embodiment and shows how it is especially true of Arabic. Consciously and unconsciously, speakers of Arabic use reams of vocabulary derived from the body, making it an ideal springboard for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of Arabic morphology. Structurally speaking, Arabic is a language built on abstract roots, short sequences of single consonants that are systematically modified to produce actual vocabulary. Learning to recognize and manipulate those roots is an invaluable skill, especially for non-native adult learners, because it lightens their memorization load significantly.Rooted in the Body uses delightful side-by-side essays and comic illustrations to invite readers to explore Arabic's signature morphology as they reflect on some 120 metaphorically charged body parts. On the long road to proficiency, lexical precision is important, but so, too, is cultural fluency. As it demystifies the links between morphology and semantics, Rooted in the Body also uses citations from Arabic's rich cultural history to highlight the body's vital role in language. This book will be a fascinating and invaluable resource, not only for advanced learners of Arabic but for linguists, rhetoricians, and philosophers of language.

    Dr. Gardner C. Taylor was hailed by TIME magazine as the dean of America's black preachers. Newsweek honored him as one of the 12 greatest preachers in the English-speaking world. A civil rights leader, a Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, and a longtime pastor, Taylor was called "the poet laureate of American Protestantism." In this critical volume, scholar and pastor Joseph Evans analyzes the art of Taylor's preaching according to the five classical canons of rhetoric, celebrating in particular his excellence in narrative eloquence, which was the heart of his persuasive proclamation. Through a close reading of Taylor's sermons and careful scholarship in the discipline of rhetoric, Evans provides homileticians and rhetoricians alike with an incisive and accessible understanding of the oratorical brilliance of the man whose eloquence transcended theological boundaries and sociopolitical and cultural constructs"--

    A story that unfolded over the span of six years and 13 gatherings. Of course, it grew out of other stories, of a Flemish circle practice group and a study in Evolution of Consciousness. Over the span of this action research project it touched many of its participants in many different ways; always pointing to living more of their potential.This book maps out a journey a group or a team can go through.We started with a hunger to get to grips with ‘the magic in the middle’ we experienced in some dialogue circles. Building on the ancient circle practice – as we knew from Art of Hosting – we explored, reflected and explored further. What exactly makes up the difference between empathic and generative listening – and an empathic conversation and a generative dialogue – as we noticed in Theory U material? Could we learn something of the age-old Quaker practice – to only speak when we ‘quaked’? How to be in a process where all involved are peers, and no one has official authority over the others? It turned out to be a journey with two distinct phases – and possibilities – where in the first phase we learn to be present, fully embodied in our selves and open to the others and what is going on in the group. In the second phase we build on this capacities gained to expand our awareness to the wider context of soul, time and space.This book points to a collective potential that is hardly tapped in our current society.We hear the need expressed for some new collective sense-making and meaning-making. Our old maps and practices aren’t fit anymore for the complex issues we see ourselves confronted with. We need non-rivalrous, collective coherence that will bring forth the best collective wisdom, nothing less will do the trick. The practice of collective presencing will build our inner muscles to feel and understand when we are actually in coherence (which is different from a new-age kind of harmony), to uncover our shared assumptions that block us to see novel solutions and will invite us to reconnect us, on a deep level, with nature, place, time and the more subtle world. It challenges a lot of our fragmented worldview and will bring us to conversations and actions were we are in flow – because we want it, desire it and need it.This book is my personal harvest of this action research project.Although no step was taken – and will be taken – without deep involvement of many different people. Lots of women initially, and recently the men are showing up too. My hope is that this body of work – this collective practice – will help your group/team to live out more of its inherent potential. There is always more to uncover and we are in deep need of that more that is also possible!

    Build purpose. Get real. People today are inundated with non-stop content, broken promises, endless product extensions—and pressure from articles titled, “The 7 Things That Successful People Do Every Day.” They don’t know where to look or who to trust. So how do you win their time, and their confidence? From renowned advertising creative director Ron Tite comes a powerful approach to cutting through the noise—three words: Think. Do. Say. Ditch the jargon, and start making good things happen for you and your organization.

    So Benedict begins making biscuits to mark moments in all their lives, leaving them secretly at their doors. People start talking. Who is this mysterious biscuit maker? When Benedict falls ill, young Rory, the only person to know his secret, gathers the residents of Mavin Road and brings them to his door. A beautiful heart-warming book that celebrates community and human connection.

     How do you get better at writing? The "write a lot and read a lot" method of improvement is insufficient. Writing and reading are both necessary, of course, but if that's all you do, you're eventually going to hit a plateau. What then? Engel has the answer. Actually, he has seven. After conducting an online survey, asking over 1,000 writers how they improve their fiction, Engel grouped the answers into seven main categories, 7 Drills to help you write better. With these writing habits, you can level up your craft and reach your publishing dreams. If, that is, you have the secret sauce. The 7 Drills are effective in their own right, but to get the most out of them, you need something called deliberate practice. Pioneered by the researcher who coined the "10,000-hour rule", deliberate practice is practice on steroids, crafted from several principles. This book explains those principles in the context of the 7 Drills, gives real life examples, and provides a step-by-step guide for how to convert your knowledge into effective habits. Take ownership of your talent. You can be better. You just need the right drills. “After surveying the working methods of over 1,000 writers and researching best writing process techniques in available literature, Mason has distilled that information into a very solid, practical, clear, and accessible approach to writing.” -Steve Adams, Pushcart-winning author and writing coach

    Based on solid biblical principles and drawn from Schultze's own remarkable experiences, this book shows how to practice "servant communication" for a rich and rewarding life. Topics include how to overcome common mistakes, be a more grateful and virtuous communicator, tell stories effectively, reduce conflicts, overcome fears, and communicate well in a high-tech world. Helpful sidebars and text boxes are included.