Rating: Summary: 8 EASY STEPS TO A RATIONAL APPROACH Review: I met the author at a book signing in San Francisco and at first was hesitant--no one likes lawyers. But I listened. She's not just a lawyer, she's a nice person and the techniques in this book are easy, but at the same time, really smart. I'm now approaching my life's challenges much more rationally, setting emotion aside for real communication. The first step in the book is knowing what you want (what lawyer's call "theory of the case." Basically, Ms. Wiehl says if you think your point all the way through, what you want might be different than what you originally thought you wanted. For example, I don't want my wife to stop nagging, I want us to have the fun we had when we were first married. When I approached my wife (what Ms. Wiehl calls a "juror") and asked her what we could do to have some more fun in our marriage, she was thrilled. And I'm taking the time to write this review because we've just had the greatest couple of days we've had in our marriage in a long time. (Saw Shrek 2, ate popcorn, laughed, went for a walk, planted an herb garden...) I know it sounds easy and simplistic, that's because it is. I also used these techniques with my boss yesterday at work and we had probably the best conversation we've ever had. This is a book that will change your life. Not because it's a heady, intellectual tome, but because it's direct, to the point, easy to read, and the concepts are easy to grasp and use. If we'd all take the time to read this book, we might find ourselves a less hostile, more communicative society. Thanks for a great book, Ms. Wiehl.
Rating: Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK! Review: I saw Lis on CBS This Morning and she was so charming and the idea so smart, I decided to buy her book. She's the sparring partner of Bill O'Reilly on Fox and I've often liked how calmly she stands up to him. (If you've ever seen the show, you know that's not an easy task.) After reading this book, I can see how she does so well against him. These ideas are brilliant--logical and rational and easy to get. Basically, she tells you the secrets lawyers use when preparing their cases and it works! I'm feeling ready to win every time.
Rating: Summary: SMART WOMAN. SMART CONCEPT. Review: I've seen Lis several times on television commenting on things of national importance, and I've always been impressed by her sharp mind, but also her kindness. She's not your typical tv pundit. This book shows that what we should all do better: approach our arguments rationally, rather than irrationally. WIth 8 Steps, Lis shows how lawyers do this in the courtroom and you can do it in life. I'm giving a copy to my mother for Mother's Day. It's a book that everyone can learn from.
Rating: Summary: Crafty, Constructed, Calculating & Convenient Reality Review: Initially, I found the premise of this book to be fascinating ---the idea of dealing with life situations by addressing them as your "case", in the same way a successful, skilled lawyer outlines his/her strategies. What I found was a carefully packaged and unbelievable book. The situations in this book are contrived and implausible. The tone is overwhelmingly condescending which makes the attempts at self-effacing humor & sharing of personal stories even more unbelievable. This carefully packaged and staged work delivers nothing that common sense and patience won't bring. All in all, this book is a lame attempt at a bio under the guise of sharing the secrets that lawyers use. The constant references to the author's personal experiences are distracting and seem to be a passive-aggressive attempt to self-promote. Page after page found me asking, am I to believe that all it takes to "win" is to think like an attorney? This material does fall into one often used category to describe attorneys --- manipulative. The supposed success stories in the second half of the book are implausible and hard to get through. This material is strikingly similar to Dr. Noelle Nelson's work but totally unbelievable and lacking in warmth and sincerity--- it all seem crafted, the 'real stories' are nothing but fluff to fill out the pages of the book.
Rating: Summary: A great guide to being your own advocate. Review: Lis Wiehl manages to simplify the often difficult task of communicating your needs and asking for what you want as the essential first step in getting it. And WINNING EVERY TIME is brilliant in its simplicity. It becomes clear through the book's examples how often emotion gets in the way of a clear argument by clouding it with subjectivity -- when making an objective case would be far more effective. As a chef, I hear this all too often in restaurants, when diners raise their voices to waiters when something isn't to their liking. Using the techniques advocated in this book, diners can learn to simply state the facts of what happened and what they'd like done about it, e.g. "My steak is well-done when I specifically ordered it medium-rare. Would you please replace it with a medium-rare steak as quickly as possible?" I can promise you that the waiters and chefs that I know will all respond more kindly to this approach than a raised voice! The ideas in this book will help you whenever you need to be heard, get something you want, or resolve a difference -- i.e. every day of your life! --Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning author of Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry, Dining Out, Chef's Night Out, and The New American Chef
Rating: Summary: Legal skills for everyday life Review: Lis Wiehl, legal analyst for Fox News and co-host of the O'Reilly Factor, explains how to make use of legalistic ideas and reasoning for everyday life. She explains her own victories and defeats in the courtroom, often based on her ability to communicate and interact with the jury. The she breaks down common confrontations, such as debates among parents and teenagers children, or you and the boss into legal methodology such as "The Theory of the Case"; "Discovery"; "The Closing Argument"; etc. Wiehl believes that clear reasoning and strategy are the keys to success.
Rating: Summary: Lawyers should save their advice for their clients. Review: The saddest part of this sorry book is the fact that it pretends to be written by an experienced trial lawyer. Ms. Wiehl has less experience at trying cases than most first year district attorneys. Wiehl has an amazing ability to sell herself. The problem is that there is very little to be gotten from such shallow waters. Worse still is the utter irrelevancy of so-called "lawyer lessons" given that lawyers suffer inordinately high divorce rates, alcoholism, depression and other stress-related illnesses. The best advice may well be that lawyers should tend to their garden and leave the rest of us to learn our own lessons. Now that is a winning strategy!
Rating: Summary: Displays eight simple rules of how to find this winning path Review: There are many moments in life where the choice is left up to you whether you take the winning or losing path: that's the message Lis Wiehl imparts in Winning Every Time, which displays eight simple rules of how to find this winning path. Author Wiehl narrates her own lesson plan: considering it comes from a successful lawyer's casebook of experience, Winning Every Time is not to be missed.
Rating: Summary: To Whom Much Is Given... Review: There is no doubt that Ms. Wiehl has great credentials, it is just too bad they don't translate well in this book. Advance copies of this book were available on the Internet and I was intrigued as I'd found Ms. Wiehl's work on NPR to be high quality. I had high expectations for this book but I was THOROUGHLY disappointed. I found this to be a less than stellar rip off of Dr. Noelle Nelson's work. Most topics in this book have all been covered before and much better by Dr. Noelle Nelson among others, see Winning!: Using Lawyers' Courtroom Techniques to Get Your Way in Everyday Situations by Noelle C. Nelson and How to Argue & Win Every Time : At Home, At Work, In Court, Everywhere, Everyday by Gerry Spence. This book is an easy read but the writing style is a tad preachy and self righteous and condescending -- Ms. Wiehl knows everything about everything. Ms. Wiehl writes about questioning your own motives as you seek to "win," and this book raises my suspicions about the author's motives. Ms. Wiehl has made quite the impact in the courtroom and classroom and she'd be better served returning there rather than surrounding herself with the other "lawyers" on the tabloid style "news" shows on the Fox Network. This book is nothing more than a reflection of the newly made over Ms. Wiehl and the Fox Network's presentation of the news - all gloss and nothing more. With so many "talking heads" pushing their own agendas, it was just a matter of time before one of them jumped into the self-help foray. It seems Ms. Wiehl has "gone New York" and has been too busy self-promoting to deliver the quality product that she could have given her credentials and experience.
Rating: Summary: All women should read this Review: This book is so helpful in any "problem solving" situation - like dealing with my teenaged son, as I am currently in the midst of. I plan on using Lis' techniques with my boss, family, contractor. Very useful advice, and funny, too.
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