The Snowball Effect

Introduction xi
SECTION A – BUILD YOUR CORE
The cornerstone of successful communication 1
1 How to prepare communication that works 3
SECTION B – GET MORE DONE MORE QUICKLY
How to save one month per year 15
When you want to . . .
2 Ensure people do what you want immediately 17
3 Find the time to communicate brilliantly 21
4 Impress senior audiences when you haven’t much time 24
5 Ensure people remember your key messages 27
6 Quickly create presentations that work 30
7 Have better, quicker meetings and conference calls 38
8 Only attend the meetings you need to 41
9 Prepare for meetings in the right way 45
10 Ensure meetings generate actions, not just discussion topics 49
11 Run punchy, interesting and effective update meetings
(or not have them) 53
12 Get a quick response to an FYI email 57
13 Empty your inbox 61
14 See how much extra time you’ve now got 65
SECTION C – PERSUADE MORE PEOPLE TO SAY “YES”
How to convince others to do what you want 67
When you want to . . .
15 Understand what really motivates people 69
16 Say things that excite people 71
17 Align your agenda to everyone else’s 74
18 Get an enthusiastic “yes” very quickly 77
19 Prove you’re someone’s best option 80
20 Make a sale 84
21 Write a winning proposal or sales presentation 92
22 Stand out from the crowd 99
23 Cause long-term change, not a short-term blip 103
24 Use the best communication channel to get a quick “yes” 106
25 Create titles that instantly grab people 110
26 Write eye-catching introductions 113
27 Use analogies to make your point 117
28 Structure your communications so they’re more persuasive 121
29 Pass an exam 123
30 Get a job interview 129
SECTION D – ENJOY YOUR JOB MORE
How to make work more fun 133
When you want to . . .
31 Ensure everyone – including you – thinks you’re great 135
32 Build powerful relationships quickly 140
33 Get things right first time 145
34 Deliver interesting presentations that impress everyone 149
35 Use “word pictures” to help people remember things 153
36 Use initials to help people remember things 156
37 Use games and activities to make your point 158
38 Enjoy using PowerPoint 161
39 Create great visuals to enhance your message 165
40 Start a presentation brilliantly (when your audience is large and/or doesn’t know you) 176
41 Appear polished, even if you haven’t practised much 179
42 Prepare for – and deliver – an excellent Q&A session 182
43 Ensure your important initiatives succeed 185
44 Have good two-way conversations 189
45 Enjoy attending networking events 191
46 Help people read your documents quickly 196
47 Improve people’s performance through observation and coaching 199
48 Improve people’s performance after annual reviews 202
49 Improve people’s performance when you delegate to them 205
SECTION E – ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVES
How to remove your communication frustrations 209
When you want to . . .
50 Stop saying “no” too quickly 211
51 Say “no” in a way that doesn’t cause you problems 214
52 Come up with good ideas, but can’t think of any 217
53 Remove someone’s concerns about what you’re planning to do 220
54 Remove someone’s final reason for saying “no” 224
55 Get good outcomes from challenging conversations 226
56 Stop procrastinating about initiating challenging conversations 233
57 Stop your messages becoming diluted 236
58 Stop diluting other people’s messages 239
59 Stop hating presentations 244
60 Avoid people instantly doubting your credibility 249
61 Stop wasting your time with people who can’t make decisions 252
62 Prevent avoidable disasters 256
63 Stop saying irrelevant stuff 258
64 Break the pattern of hearing useful ideas, but doing nothing
with them 261
Conclusion: Build your momentum 264
Appendix: Useful communication templates 267
And for more help . . . 273
Acknowledgments 274
About Andy Bounds 276
Index 277