This book has a lot of good info on communication. I learned quite a bit about how I communicate to others and what my body language is saying. There is some humor too and that made all the more enjoyable. Good book!

I recommend this book to perhaps reinforce what you already may know. Particularly interesting was toward the end of the book where the author went into handling physical and sexual assaults.

I came across this book in my continuing research of NLP and hypnosis. Neither of which are addressed in this book. This book is a very basic and shallow guide to how to get along better with people. There is no magic here, no great revelations, just basic common sense advice on how to better interact with others.

I won't say the book was bad, it wasn't. However, it is very shallow and there is nothing in here that you wouldn't already know how to do. I expected at least some detailed conversational advice and, while this book had some, it was very limited.

It's a very quick read, very simple, and if you're looking for a good two day read to help you polish up your people skills for a new sales job, or a presentation, you will probably find a few helpful tips in here. If you are looking for something deeper, this isn't it.

INTRO
--
The author's promise: "this book contains ... tactics governing human behavior that will let you outsmart, outthink, and outmaneuver... anyone, anyplace, anytime." After reading the book, I am not confident I can outsmart, out-think, or outmaneuver anyone at anyplace and anytime. Instead, I have a greater awareness of what psychological techniques are useful for certain types of situations. Most if not all of the techniques explained in the book are practical but common knowledge.


HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO LIKE YOU
--
The author suggests that you talk with someone when he is in a good mood if you want him to like you. Moreover, the author writes, "countless studies (and common sense) have established that we tend to like more those who like us." The tactics are to establish rapport by matching the person's gestures, rate of speech, and vocal patterns. I agree with the author, it is common sense (and common knowledge).


HOW TO MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION?
--
Smile.


HOW TO APPEAR CALM, CONFIDENT
--
Smile. And breathe.
[I am beginning to think that all of these books that suggest we smile are going to create a world of fixed and affected smiling].


GET PEOPLE TO SAY WHAT THEY ARE REALLY THINKING
--
I found this chapter to be useful and practical. E.g., suppose you ask some one whether they like the way you arranged furniture and the person responds, "I like it." You can then probe deeper by asking, "what would it take for you to love it?" Or you could ask, "how do you think I can make this room look even better?" It seems simple, and it is.


LEADERSHIP
--
Great leaders, the author states, must be able to identify with followers by appealing to their desires, needs, and wants. A great leader is also a humble individual. The style of great leaders is clarity, simplicity, and directness. Moreover, great leaders respect everyone. It is demonstrated by showing people how terrific they are and not how great the leader is. People will think you are charismatic when they feel that you make them feel important and special.


GET ANYONE TO UNDERSTAND YOU
--
It is a simple two-step process.
1. Give an overview (see the above sentence).
2. Say it is simple (see the above sentence).


GET GROUPS TO COOPERATE
--
It is possible to get groups to cooperate by creating an external threat or setting one group up against another. The author writes, "A mind, like a group, with nothing to occupy it, will turn against itself. When we have nothing to focus our attention on our mind creates its own unrest and fears begin to take root." It is why hobbies are relaxing because it focuses our attention.

When naming your group, it is should be inspiring such as "The Conquerers" and not "The Philosophers."


GET GOOD ADVICE
--
The author is mostly right about obtaining good advice. 1) Listen to advice with an open-mind. 2) When some one is jealous or envious of you, do not ask for advice. 3) If a person has an interest in the outcome of what you are asking advice about (whether it be emotional or financial) do not obtain advice from this person. 4) Obtain advice from a variety of individuals from different backgrounds.


HOW TO CRITICIZE
--
The ability to criticize effectively without generating additional problems is an art and a science. I think the author offered practical and useful advice on this challenging and important ability.
1) Show you care, 2) do so in private, 3) preface criticism with a compliment), 4) criticize the act and not the person, 5) believe the person did the act unwittingly, 6) share responsibility for the act, 7) suggest a solution, and 8) tell the person he is not alone in the act. Additionally, a good amount of time should have passed from when the act occurred to when you criticize.


CONCLUSION
--
In closing, I did enjoy the book but found it to be less useful than I anticipated and what the author's claims were. Nevertheless, I think it was beneficial and I am happy I read it. I was expecting more. You will obtain practice suggestions on how to handle certain types of situations but most of the suggestions are common knowledge.


I hope this review was helpful for you.

This book is a waste of money and the time it takes to read it! It is all BS. Basically, the material presented is the same that has been around forever. It all sounds like something one would have studied in an intro psychology class in the 1960's-and it has since been proven untrue! The time I wasted on this is time I will never get back. Don't make the same mistake I did. Save your time and money.

I have been using the techniques in this book at work with my employees and clients and I am finding everyone so much easier to deal with. It has made me a better person, friend, and boss since now I understand how others think and feel. Letting others know you respect and appreciate them is like magic and they really will do whatever you want to maintain that relationship you have with them. RESPECT!

If I would have finished the book, I would have gotten myself into alot of trouble. I read the first couple of chapters and had to stop. I saw myself abusing the knowledge. Good book, good suggestions, good tips, but not for a guy trying to do right.

Attract the person of your dreams with these tips for getting others interested in you. These ideas can also be applied to your professional life.

Rather than rehash much of what has already been written, I'll direct you to the long (and accurate) review by Mr. Pidgeon that follows. I have bought all of Lieberman's books and couldn't figure out why the advice didn't do me any good. The information is presented in a very straightforward format, giving you the impression that enacting these techniques is as easy as 1-2-3. But, if you were actually to do what Lieberman suggests it would be akin to 1) decide to run the Boston Marathon, 2) buy the best looking shoes you possibly can, 3) hold your arms in the air and smile when you cross the finish line first.

Lieberman cites social psychology studies; however, these findings don't help much in everyday life when situations cannot be controlled as they are in monitored studies. And, as several other reviewers also mentioned, there is an element of manipulation present that cannot be denied.

I have many books in this same genre and Lieberman's books have not earned their place in my personal library.

What do women want? What do men want? David Lieberman, a man I never heard of, but a nationally recognized leader in the field of human behavior, told me (in his book) how to make people like me, how to get girls to be attracted to me, how to get people to listen to me, how to get people to do what I want, and how to win in gambling. And if I found his book at Barnes & Noble instead of the public library, he could have made $12.95 off me too.

Familiarity does NOT breed contempt, says Lieberman. We like someone more if she is around all the time. We like people who show an interest in us. And, we like people who talk to us when we are in a good mood, since it causes us to associate them with happy feelings. If you want to be liked, go up to that charming fellow, compliment him on his fashion tastes, and take your coffee break at the same time and place each day... but only on days he is smiling.

That is all well and good, but I think most of us knew that anyway, from experience. The fun part is Chapter 2, "Get Anyone to Find You Instantly Attractive." This chapter I shall parse point by point. These are the six points: "Emotional Arousal," "Walking Styles," "Gazing into a Person's Eyes," "The Law of Contrast and Association," "Self-Esteem and Attraction," and "Reciprocal Liking."

People get turned on, says Lieberman, when they engage in adrenaline building activities, like watching scary movies and riding roller coasters. If you hang out with a pretty girl (or boy) when she is doing something like this, you will automatically be more attractive to her. We are also turned on by youth, so if you walk like a young person and have good posture, this won't hurt. Make sure, too, to gaze into the other person's eyes. Do this and she will be instantly smitten. These all seem fine; the youth one is true for sure (I was attracted to 18-22 year old girls my freshman year of college, and I still am), I never thought about the adrenaline thing, and the eye gazing thing seems like it might be a little stalker-ish.

Point four, the "Law of Contrast and Association," is where Lieberman gets interesting. How should I meet girls? Should I hit up the bar scene with four or five of my studly buddies, hoping to entice a beauty's eye with attraction by association? No, says Lieberman. Bringing good-looking buddies makes you look bad in comparison.

Maybe I should go clubbing with a group of ugly friends. Would that catch a babe's eye by making me look good in contrast? One would think so based on the previous example, but ugly friends in reality make you look worse than you are. It's bad to go chick-hunting with Zack Morris and A.C. Slater, and it's just as bad to look for chicks with Screech Powers.

What is the right approach to meeting women? Leave the friends at home, says Lieberman, and go out by yourself! Or, if you have to bring a wingman or two, make sure they are in your range. Nobody too handsome or too ugly.

Of course, this applies only to bringing friends of the same sex. If a guy is going to hit the town with female friends, not only can they be extremely attractive, it is best for them to be. This will make other girls find him better looking.

Point five is all about self-esteem. But, not in the way I would have thought (I have been told in real life by girls who rejected me that I don't have enough confidence and self-esteem). Lieberman does NOT say that boosting your own self-esteem will make you more attractive to others. What he does say is someone with low self-esteem is more likely to be attracted to a person she meets. Why do you think there are so many rebound daters?

Of course! I need to seek out women with low self-esteem. The emotionally stable ladies don't need me to make them feel good.

Point six, the final point, "Reciprocal Liking," I completely agree with. When we find out that someone we find attractive is interested in us, we automatically find this person more appealing. This is definitely true for me personally. In high school, I had some crushes on girls who never gave me the time of day, but every romantic interest since then has been a girl I initially found pretty who, after meeting me, was nice to me, friendly, and showed an interest in getting to know me and stay in touch with me (The flip side, for me personally, is that if an unattractive person shows interest, I will still not be attracted to her).

Based on this chapter, this is what I now must do to get a girlfriend: leave my guy friends at home, call up my attractive female friends, bring them to an amusement park, walk with good posture, find a pretty girl with low self-esteem, gaze into her eyes and invite her on the roller coaster, then seal the deal by saying, "I like you."

Once I do this, will I live happily ever after? Not so fast, says Lieberman in Chapter 4, "Get the Instant Advantage in Every Relationship." If you are too available, she will leave you for someone more mysterious. People want what they can't have. So make yourself distant. Always let her know that there are many other fish in the sea just waiting to be caught. She is more likely to keep vying for your love knowing she can be thrown back in the sea if need be.

Guys, if you want a girlfriend (and girls, if you want a boyfriend), follow this advice: leave your same-sex pals at home, call up the good looking opposite sex friends, go some place where you can get an adrenaline rush (or bring a case of Mountain Dew), strut like you mean it, meet that pretty person with low self-esteem, stare into her eyes, and give her a Mountain Dew or Red Bull. Make sure you finish the night by professing your undying love with the caveat that you will always keep your options open. This, my friends, is the path to true love.

This book is a must read for anyone. It has many helpful tools that can be applied in your personal life, and alot more that can be applied in your profesional life. You can start changing your life after the first chapter.

I attempted to get someone to contact me that was unresponsive. After reading this book, I realized what I was doing wrong and changed the content of what I was saying. As a result the person responded immediately. The book explains how human nature makes it easier to predictable behavior. Well worth the time.

ho hum book -- if you want the real thing --- find "The Art of Manipulation" by RB Sparkman circa 1976. Pricy, Amazon offrs it for 149.99. I got it on Ebay for around 25.00. I buy these kinds of books, because I am an easy mark and don't like to get taken... Once you purchase it NEVER LET IT OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! I lent mine to someone in 1988 and have been trying to replace it ever since...

If you read enough of these kinds of books, you'll come to realise which authors actually know their stuff, and which only have a massive ego and skill in marketing themselves. I can tell you right now, Lieberman falls into the latter category.

He seems like an American version of Paul Mckenna - all smooth showmanship with a paid-for Ph.D.

Do you want to get anyone to do anything? Well, there is no book on the planet that can give you a fixed, rigid strategy to do that - none at all. The better, more sensible books on this subject will offer you a selection of principles that require you to use your own creativity.

For example, if you want a decent book on influence, check out the work of Robert Cialdini. His book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion will give you more to work with than twenty books of Lieberman's drivel.

I read this book, never be lied to again, and Dr. Lieberman's newest one YOU CAN READ ANYONE. They are all top notch, though out of all three, his latest one is the best. If you want a book strictly on influence, then buy get anyone to do anything. However, if you are looking for how to read people and understand what they are thinking, when they are not telling you what they are thinking, then you want YOU CAN READ ANYONE. He seems to combine alot of the other tactics into this one super book. I've already begun to use some of the techniques, and if you know Lieberman's style, then you'll appreciate that this book too is very, very practical. Its got no fluff, very cool insights into human behavior, and tells you exactly what to say and do to find out what a person is really thinking. All good stuff! Happy reading.

Very good book, the only thing i didn't like was...i think it should have been a hardback...otherwise, more or less understandable. Most of the info. he gives are common knowledge...which is weird considering that when you read it you think...oh yeah...DUH!! lol
but it's a good book to read and own!

This book is lively if not too short. You are left wanting to hear more. But it gives really valuable hints for dealing with real life problems.

I'd recommend it highly.

It's short, it's sweet, and it's actually both effective and highly actionable. This audiotape does what it says it does - get anyone to do anything, and never feel powerless again.

I found the book to be very interesting and an eye opener for certain situations. Before I ordered this book, I thought this would contain methods and techniques of totally taking control of someone and making them do anything you wanted, as the title suggests. This book, however, is nothing like that. It is more about dealing with situations and how to have the person react in certain ways that you want them to.

I have already applied some of the techniques in getting people to like me and have found that it is working. There really is no magical secret, but since I consider myself to be socially inept, I found the techniques in the book helpful in making conversations and getting to know people better. Having said that, I now generally start to feel more comfortable talking to people.

Very helpful. Easy to read. Some is "I knew that already" but that is coupled with interesting ways to handle things.

This book is so outdated. All the techniques listed in this book are from the 1980's and earlier, which means that most of the things you can learn from this book are already learned by you from the past. There are much more recent interesting researches and discoveries of human nature you can find in other books.

I agree, the book has many, many good insights and most of it makes sense. You can theoretically use his techniques, but sometimes they are just unrealistic in real-life situations. Also the book is so short and his chapters so small that it leaves you hungry for more depth, more explanation and more examples on how to use his tips. Sometimes the situations he describes are just too limited. I would not buy this again...it's just not detailed enough and provides too few examples on how to use this in real life--not every situation is about a cheating boyfriend or a dishonest employee. It seriously lacks depth but it's a decent read...but you will forget everything you read in 2 days.

I'm sure there are lengthier and more in depth books that deal with the same topic which are more worth your money, time and effort.

I have read several books on verbal self defense and this is by far the best. It contains techniques that are simple and easy to remember. Most of these methods are in the form of a statement that you can make. The only thing you have to remember is that although these tactics look and read very good on paper, real life situations are a different story, in that, when you employ these techniques, people might not react the way you anticipate them to in the short term. But, I am confident that if you employ these tricks on a regular basis, you will see some positive long term results.

Concise, easy to read and remember, well supported, and extremely effective! Recommended for anyone who want to improve their interpersonal skills. "People will not like you more when you do sth for them, but when they do sth for you."

The power of influence is evident and this book allows you to visualize it from the author's perspective alot of the powers of influence is tattooed in our natural responses, Dont look for the second coming in this author, but view him as a light house in a sea of battling waters and that will be the only way you will be able to truly appreciate his writing style.

This book is excellent and teaches various psychological methods to influence people. It makes a lot of references to NLP and cognitive psychology. Very helpful in the real world. Well written by a knowledgeable professional.

David explains how the laws of human behaviour operate for the advantage of those few who truly understand their impact on human behaviour.I threw logic out the window as I became increasingly aware of the raw power of emotion to guide and direct our lives. I now have a feeling of being behind the wheel instead of being the passenger.

Have a positive, happy outlook on life. Stay away from misery.

I found great joy from this book. Excellent practical suggestions based on psychological research. Highly recommended.

I read this book a few years ago and was excited to see that a few of the techniques in this book actually worked. Of course, you cant really get anybody to do anything, but you can surprisingly get some people to do some things.

This book is a collection of many ideas that I have found in various books since reading ths one. regardless, it is nice to find one place that has so many good ideas.

My ex-girlfriend wasn't so pleased with me when she found out I was reading this book; she thought I was trying to manipulate her. She eventually read it herself and now I feel manipulated, just kidding, I saw her tactics a mile away.

Anyway, this is a fun book, but don't think you're going to rule the world from reading it, however, if you are like me you will probably want to learn more on how people are easily influenced and manipulated, this was one of those books that will make want to investigate further.

The one subject every entrepreneur needs to know is how to get anyone to do anything ....the corporate world seems to teach folks how to do this -- but freelancers and entrepreneurs don't seem to learn these skills. Asking is an art and a scinece and this book by David Lieberman shows you how to defeat the competition fo rjob interviews , get anyone to return your call-- magic phrases and stop jealousy in anyone in less than 30 seconds. When the going gets rough at work or when your boss has you feeling donw-- turn to this book. Stop verbal abuse INSTANTLY...how to answer tough questions how to say no without hurt-- wow...I can't believe I don't turn to this book more myself...you need it NOW...

Read and study this book. It is great. Since I read it (about a year ago) I find myself always coming back to study it, and I feel that this book will help you become a MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!

There are times in life when situations arise that we are not equipped to deal with. This book covers all the ones that I can think of plus quite a few more. Each chapter covers a different subject in a short, concise yet thorough manner with bullet points at the end for easy recall. I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly parents.

I feel that I personally have not benefitted much from reading this book. Some of the techniques described in this book are rather interesting. But for the most part, the situations that are illustrated in this book take nothing more than a bit of common sense to solve. The information given may help you, but with very minor problems. Some other things that bothered me were several typos that I noticed and information inconsistancy. On the back cover of the book, it says that Mr. Lieberman "lives in Boca Raton, Florida". Then if you look at the "About the Author" page in the book, it says that "He lives in New York City." I spotted this inconsistancy relatively early. Although, this may not be too important, it made me a bit skeptical in accepting what this book had to offer. It kind of seems as if this book was written cleverly as a way of getting people to buy a book that looks interesting at first glance, but really in the end does not have too much to offer.. or maybe it's just me?

Watch out. You'll find yourself suddenly thinking tender thoughts about me. Maybe you'll mail me a mix tape, or buy me a drink (three olives). You are probably baking me a birthday cake as I write this. David J. Lieberman: RULEZ!