Connect
*NEW EDITION FEATURING UPDATED MATERIAL*
'Erudite, interesting and, above all, entertaining' ALAN JOHNSON, FORMER UK HOME SECRETARY
'A racy, engrossing read' PROFESSOR IAN ROBERTSON
'Incredibly absorbing, leaving even the most confident orator with food for thought' PSYCHOLOGIES
Communication can make the difference between failure and success. When communication goes badly, it's a nightmare. When it goes well, it's the stuff of dreams.
In this revelatory and entertaining guide, top speechwriter Simon Lancaster reveals that the secret to great communication lies not in logic alone, but in skilfully connecting with people's deepest instincts and emotions. Through the power of connections, it is possible to transform people's perceptions about almost anything, making the scary safe, the unfamiliar familiar, and even turning a 'no' into a 'yes'.
Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and ancient rhetoric, Lancaster examines ten powerful connections you can instantly make to change how people think, feel and act. Forget incomprehensible acronyms, mixed metaphors and jumbled jargon; with these connections, you can literally get people's mouths watering, make their hearts race and leave them addicted to your presence.
Packed with wisdom, humour and actionable methods, Connect is the ultimate guide to great communication, giving you the power to inspire, influence and energise anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Simon Lancaster first started writing speeches in the late 1990s for members of Tony Blair's Cabinet. He has since gone on to write speeches for the CEOs of some of the world's biggest companies. He is an Executive Fellow of Henley Business School and lectures on Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge.
Simon regularly appears on BBC and Sky News discussing speeches and has written articles for the Guardian, Daily Mail, Spectator, Prospect and GQ. He frequently makes keynote speeches at major conferences around the world and his social media videos attract hundreds of thousands of views. His 2016 TEDx Talk 'Speak like a Leader' has had more than three million views. He lives in the Brecon Beacons with his wife, two daughters, a dog, two cats and several chickens.