Selling Eloquence – Book Review

The Elements of Eloquence – How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase

Title of Book:            The Elements of Eloquence

Author            Mark Forsyth

Publisher       Icon

ISBN               978-184831-621-8

 Rating 4 ****        A page turner,  easy on the mind and a fun read

Genre:             Entertaining Educative

Style:              Well written and detailed but easy to read

Contents page:      39 short Chapters

Index:           None ! This is huge pity. The  editor should consider this for subsequent editions

Flick through eye appeal:    Easy entertaining and witty read but really has to be read in sequence

Time for a breather Stops :  Take a break at each end of chapter, mark up with pencil and reflect - maybe create own index on back blank pages

Golden Nuggets:                  every chapter – it’s a treasury

Topic Summary:         Figures of rhetoric succinctly and accessibly expressed

Illustration:               No visual – cartoons and photos would help but plenty  of  quotes are offered

Quotes:                                  Every page ( a trainer’s delight!)

Warning :                              I would have been put off by the Jargon /Labels Chapter headings of the contents page but luckily  I heard Mark Forsyth interviewed on the radio, so I got the point of the book.

N.B. I would recommend you read the epilogue page 203 first ( Epilogue concerning Terminology), especially if you are like me and  find long  ancient Greek derived academic words off putting.

Review :

In a world of business communication where you are bombarded by messages, where you now process more words than ever before and live in a business period where there is an unbalanced obsession with content, perhaps it is time to redress that balance with improved eloquence to leverage your competitive advantage.

After they have listened to their client first, Salespeople then spout on twitter, comment on facebook or linked in,  reply on email or speak over the phone or conference call or spiel face to face ; what issues forth is judged by clients  not solely on the substance but also the style of communication.

Mark Forsyth’s latest book The elements of eloquence is an entertaining and informative journey through some 39 short chapters on individual figures of rhetoric whose power salespeople would recognise today even if we are not familiar with their academic labels. 

If you have ever wondered why certain advertising slogans stick, why some days your tweets are successfully succinct or pondered why sometimes your presentations flow particularly well, a study of style and the practise of style will be an important element of future sales success.

Learning the ‘flowers of rhetoric’ is like learning good recipes. You advance from relying upon one signature dish to becoming an accomplished host or hostess. 

If you have ever wondered why we remember ‘the lady loves milk tray’,  ‘this is not just food this is M and; S food’  recognise ‘ I’m loving it’ or puzzled why “the world’s local bank’ is such a neat line this book will unravel the puzzle for you.

Salespeople have always known how important a nice turn of phrase is  in their vocal and written communication. Although not primarily aimed at Salespeople  The elements of eloquence should be downloaded onto their e-book or be on their bookshelf or in their Christmas stocking this year.

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