you had me at "hello"...

I have a book called Tongue Fu! written by a woman named Sam Horn.

Her website says,
According to John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, "This is a GREAT book!  Tongue Fu puts a new twist on communication.  Everyone should read it!"  Known as "martial arts for the mouth," Tongue Fu! is perfect for customer service representatives, parents, business owners, couples and anyone else who wants to learn how to deal with difficult people (without becoming one themselves).

...and also lists these items:

*  Idea Chemistry:  the nine components that cause ideas to break out instead of blend in

*  The Jerry Maguire Rule:  Five secrets to crafting an intro that gets everyone at hello

*  The Eureka Moment:  Why people love to discover The Next New Thing and how you can create projects, products, and presentations that haven't been seen or heard before

*  Contra-brand:  The power of saying something that flies in the face of current wisdom

*  Muse It or Lose It:  Why it's so important to ink it when you think it

*  Half and Half Words:  trademark-able terms that produce income for years to come

*  Likeability Humor:  the quickest way to win buy-in

---------------In Tongue Fu!, she has lots of excellent quotations, & she talks about using the right words to communicate with someone so that there aren't misunderstandings and people don't get mad.  Like -- you have to notice the other person's point, or concern, and acknowledge it, show that you give it value, or something, & not just verbally beat it down: 

it made me remember a conversation I had with somebody at the legislative session in the state capital, one year -- the guy was something like -- a school board member, I think, & he was earnestly and vehemently recounting to me his argument with someone over something --

"he thinks," and "I told him," and "he was saying," and "I explained to him," and -- just telling it to me, he was getting wound up again in exasperation and he finished off the litany with this sentence, spoken vigorously -- "I tried to tell him he was stupid, but he wouldn't listen!"

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