The Art of Speed Reading People : How To Size People Up and Speak Their Language

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Summary: This book offers a practical yet fun way to look at people
Review: He describes the four basic components of personality---extrovert/introvert, sensor/intuitive, thinker/feeler and judger/perciever. He then describes them further in depth so that you can figure out which one you are. Then it explains temperment based on the combinations of personality charachteristics. The next few chapters are devoted to being able to put all this together so that you can spot the different personality types. In the final section, there are actual exercises to "test" yourself and to sharpen your skills.
There are numerous examples of what to look for to guess what charachteristic best fits a person. There are also very short examples to be able to test out, just in casual conversation, with co-workers/friends.
This is a great book and fun to read/do the exercises to try out your new gained insight. This book will certainly not make you a personality expert but it will help you appreciate the differences and gain tolerance. It was also fun to discover that the "quirks" in my personality are actually quite common...like, my car is always messy no matter what, and that is indicative of a "perciever". It was also fun to do some of the exercises on my friends...like having them give me directions. This is a clue to determine if the person is a "thinker or feeler".
I recommend this book! Fun, fun, fun!

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Summary: Wonderful Guide
Review: I had heard about personality typing and such before from Psych classes, but this book puts it to practical use. They first give an introduction to personality typing, it's history, and modern implications. They then help you understand the differences in type as well as dispelling some common myths and connotations of terms used in typing.

The book introduces various methods of assessing a person's personality type (using preferences vs. temperment) as well as giving some exercises at the end of each chapter to help put what you just learned to use. Of course, the stress is on *Speed* reading people so they give tips on how to quickly asess someone's type so that you can put what you learned to use in the real world where you can't sit down and have a therapy session with everyone you meet.

The later chapters in the book delve into the 16 different types, grouping them by temperment, and gives detailed descriptions on common behaviors and responses of these types. Additionally they give tips on how to interact with particular types in order to communicate with them most effectively.

Note: they are VERY careful to state that typing does not equal stereotyping and always caution that people won't always fit neatly in these man made categories. Plus they are very careful to stress that this book is not intended for someone to learn how to "control" others, but rather develop a system of effective interaction with friends, colleagues, bosses, etc.

If you always felt you never really "got" people then this is a definate must read. If you always kind of "felt" people out and reacted from what you sensed (like me) this is still a must read because it takes this method and lays it out explicitly so you can use it as a tool rather than merely intution.

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Summary: Easy Getting Started Guide to the 16 MBTI Personality Types
Review: I have read a great number of books on the 16 MBTI personality types, and I have investigated scores of websites to really find out all I can about understanding people and their personalities. This book, by far, is the easiest guide to the MBTI. I highly recommend it both to people new to MBTI, and to those who have a fairly good understanding of the 16 types.

This book is simple and easy to understand, and has some really great real-world examples that are wonderful. The "How To Speak" sections are fun and make perfect sense.

Other books on the MBTI are really complicated and seem to require a Master's degree in psychology in order to really get the most out of them.

This book will help you understand the people in your life, and make you realize that everyone is different, and that everyone sees things from a different perspective. But that isn't the best part... it tells you HOW they see things and HOW best to interact with them.

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Summary: A Good Read!
Review: Move over, Evelyn Wood. Instead of speed reading text, Paul T. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger tell you how to speed read the personalities of those with whom you work and play. This book ably explains the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. With a little practice, you can quickly identify your own personality type and that of anyone you meet. If you are already familiar with the Myers-Briggs model, much of this book will be old news. If you aren't familiar with it, and if you want to learn how to "SpeedRead" people according to this theory, this book will benefit you. The authors go into great detail about the four temperaments and the sixteen personality types within them. We [...] recommend this as a book for purposeful study. However, even if you only read it once, you will learn something about yourself or the people around you.


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Summary: Very practical, useful way of reading people types
Review: The Tiegers wrote a book that is appropriate for all, well, types of people. The book is tremendously well organized. I have been able to use the information to read people I would otherwise might not have guessed. The exercises in the book are marginally useful (at least to me), but the techniques are sound and can be applied immediately.

The reader completely unfamiliar with the sixteen types and the Myers-Briggs type indicator (often talking about the types is summed up as 'the MBTI') is not at a disadvantage, because the Tiegers explain each of the eight preferences and give a nice background and summary about the sixteen types later on. I would be cautious about overgeneralizing people's behavior, and unfortunately unscrupulous readers will misuse the MBTI and the information in the book. The Tiegers give a nice response to the ethics concern and hopefully those who read the book will use it to improve their lives and relationships and not use the information to abuse others.

As the title suggests, reading people is a bit of an art. After absorbing the book you will have a solid basis for categorizing people and hopefully a more scientific way of reading their type.

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Summary: Most useful Myers Briggs book I own
Review: This book not only describes the different types, it gives the reader tips on how to recognize these different types, and then helps you learn the best way of dealing with people based on their type.

This book does not suggest that we should manipulate others. It simply makes the point that all people are different, and it is important to try to communicate with others in a way that makes sense to them. If a listener can't understand the message you are trying to send, they argue, then you have conflict and miscommunication. Such a scenario does not benefit anyone.

The first part of the book helps the reader identify their own type. This is done through a very thorough discussion of the differences in each pair of letters (E/I, S/N, T/F, and J/P), including excellent examples. This is the first Myers Briggs book I have read that allowed me to unequivocably determine my own type. The book then has descriptions of the sixteen types, as well as a discussion of temperment. I found the descriptions of the sixteen types a bit sparse, but the discussion of temperment was the best I have read. I normally find the discussion of temperment and lead functions to be the best, most easy to understand description I have ever read.

The sections on how to identify other people's type and keys to effectively communicating with each type were the high points of the. The authors give readers a number of exercises to practice and develop the skills they are teaching. These exercises really add to the book. The tips on communication all make sense and are easy to implement.

This book is almost guaranteed to help you improve your communication skills. I highly reccommend it.

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Summary: This book offers a practical yet fun way to look at people
Review: This book, as opposed to other books concerning "Temperament Typing" offers a less official, more relaxed and practical way of harnessing this theory. I think it is worth a read for everyone who feels he wants or needs to know people more, on both the personal or impersonal level

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Summary: What if you're dyslexic?
Review: When I first saw this book, I only read the first part of the title, "The Art of Speedreading People." Being a very literal-minded reader, I originally thought this book was on the art and paintings of very fast readers, a fascinating subject, I thought. Surely someone whose reading speed is far beyond that of us mere mortals would have a unique artistic vision of life. I was then surprised and somewhat disappointed to find it was actually about how to size people up quickly. Silly me. But despite my initial confusion, I found this was still a useful book. I've always felt that people should know each other better before they become friends or lovers and then use and abuse each other. I recommend this book for all those wanting to improve their lagging social skills in these fast-paced times of instant everything--from instant coffee to instant gratification to instant relationships.