To interview Susan RoAne, please call 415-461-3915
FACE TO FACE: How to Reclaim the Personal Touch in a Digital World
Susan RoAne.
Fireside, $14.95 paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-4156-6142-2
“In a technology-driven world, face-to-face communication has taken a backseat to cellphones, e-mail and text messaging, asserts RoAne (The Secrets of Savvy Networking) in this humorous, quippy guide that illustrates how basic conversational and social skills have deteriorated and offers simple steps to more effective communication. The author offers commonsense advice and practical suggestions for anyone who wants to improve his or her ability to network, enhance small talk at a cocktail party or business function, navigate office politics and find or become a mentor. With handy and realistic advice for everyone from the chronically shy to those who just need a brushup on how to behave at a business dinner, RoAne goes so far as to list phrases of introduction, expressions of grief and icebreakers for dinner conversation, and amply demonstrates how “spoken words contribute to the chemistry and connections with… clients, colleagues, friends and families.”
– Publisher’s Weekly, Aug. 4, 2008
- “I am really uncomfortable.”
- People say face to face communication has fallen by the wayside in favor of digital dialogue. Is that a problem?
- What do you tell companies that hire you to speak to their employees?
- What are the prevalent attitudes about small talk? How can people make small talk led to something bigger?
- How can people best prepare for in-person business and social events?
- What if people consider themselves shy? What can they do to make themselves more confident and neutralize the shyness?
- You write about “talk targets” – what is a “talk target”? What do they do to encourage communication? What are the tips people can borrow from them?
- What if you prefer to use email or text people and not use the phone, are you at a disadvantage?
- How can our listeners begin to incorporate the personal touch?
- What made you write a book about face to face communication?
- You seem to be a proponent of gossip, isn’t that a bad thing to do?
- You wrote a whole chapter on sticky social situations. Can you highlight a couple of remedies for our audience?
