Alan Palmer - Talk Lean: Shorter Meetings. Quicker Results. Better Relations.

Table of Contents

Talk Lean is powerful and practical! If you want to regain control of your agenda, become a more effective leader and have greater impact in your business, Talk Lean is an excellent reference. The methods shared by Alan Palmer in this book redefine the way in which you will prepare for and engage in meetings and perhaps most importantly, the ways in which you establish and manage key relationships in business and life in general.

Tony Latham, Vice-President Finance, Unilever, North Asia

Busy people do not have the time to misunderstand or be misunderstood, and building confidence and trust early pays dividends. This book identifies the traps we all fall into in dealing with others and provides unique insight in how to be more productive, open and straightforward, and hopefully feel better about the way we deal with our fellow citizens.

Andrew Shilston, Non-Executive Director, BP; Non-Executive Director, Circle Holdings; Chairman, Morgan Advanced Materials

Bored with long-winded, aimless meetings? Nervous about that difficult conversation with your boss which you've been putting off? Alan Palmer's clear and entertaining exposition of the brilliantly effective Interactifs training approach will transform how you deal with your colleagues, clients and friends. Thoroughly recommended.

Antonio E. Weiss, bestselling author of Key Business Solutions and 101 Business Ideas That Will Change the Way You Work

Communicating clearly, effectively and directly is essential to our professional and personal lives. Yet most of us are very poor at it, particularly when faced with difficult or awkward situations. Alan Palmer's refreshingly pragmatic and entertaining book shows us how to handle all these situations and talk to people the way they like to be spoken to: directly, to the point and with courtesy. This helps build trust and confidence in our relationships. It is full of practical examples and captures the essence of the highly successful Interactifs training which I have found invaluable.

Flemming Morgan, President, Danone Medical Nutrition Division; Member of Danone Executive Committee; Non-Executive Director, Agrolimen

Even a small improvement in your communication skills can be life-changing. It only needs one or two people, in key situations, to say yes where they might have said no for the course of events to be radically altered. Just imagine if Chamberlain had been able to convince Hitler to come to Wimbledon rather than to invade Poland; or if Louis XVI had persuaded Danton to stay for dinner. Talk Lean will help you make major improvements in your communications skills. It shows you how you can systematically give yourself the best chance of achieving the outcome you want from meetings and conversations, swiftly and without upsetting the relationship.

Hugh Easterbrook, Managing Partner, Flying Buttress Partners Ltd

I LOVED this book. At a time when everyone, and especially busy executives, have to make the best use of every minute in their overextended lives, here is a book that is really helpful. Alan Palmer's book is brimming with excellent insights and practical solutions to working more effectively with your colleagues, collaborating with your Board members and having more fun with your friends and family. This book delivers a message that needs to be heard and acted upon by many people in the business world and delivers it in an amusing and compelling manner.

Vivien Godfrey, CEO, US National Milk Processors' Organization (Milk Mustache)

A clear and concise handbook for communicating efficiently and effectively with all types of people. It will help you to close the all-important but often narrow gap between success and failure in meetings.

Ridgely Cinquegrana, President, Neptune Capital; President, United Perfumes; former President, Loewe LVMH

This edition first published 2014

2014 Alan H. Palmer

The Interactifs Discipline is an original teaching approach developed by Philippe de Lapoyade and protected under copyright law. The Interactifs company is the owner of the relevant intellectual property rights and enjoys exclusive rights to the exploitation of the Interactifs Discipline.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Palmer, Alan H.

Talk lean : shorter meetings, quicker results, better relations / by Alan H. Palmer ; on the basis of original ideas and a framework conceived and developed by Philippe de Lapoyade ; with contributions from Clement Toulemonde.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-857-08497-2 (pbk.)

1. Business communication. 2. Communication. 3. Business meetings. I. Title.

HF5718.P343 2014

658.4'56dc23

2013027980

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9780857084972 (paperback) ISBN 9780857084941 (ebk)

ISBN 9780857084958 (ebk)

Cover design: Parent Design Ltd

For my wife and children, Sarah, Katie, Alexander and Lizzie, and for my sister, Diana

Preface

Try the following simple experiment: ask a dozen people in your circle of friends, acquaintances and colleagues, with as much diversity as possible when it comes to nationality, culture, sex, age, profession, social class and management level, to answer this question: