Rating: 
Summary: WOOSHA!
Review: Although I watched the video series, rather than read his book, I'm sure you will be very happy with this book. Dr. Thompson teaches some very usefull techniques for dealing with potentially hostile people. The verbal judo series, while somewhat hard to take in at first due to his demeanor, is well worth the investment. The series is especially usefull to those whom work in a law enforcement field. As a dispatcher, I find the techniques I learned from the Dr. indespensible. WOOSHA!
Rating: 
Summary: A great place to start learning how to communicate better
Review: As a law enforcement specialist, this book changed how I do my job. It was very practical, gave good tips, showed me what I was doing wrong, what I was doing right, and how to do better at what I do.I will never look at a verbal confrontation the same again. Thank God for George Thompson and the book that helps save the lives of police officers and the dirt bags who they have to face.
Rating: 
Summary: A ... waste of my time
Review: As a teacher of English, speech and communication, I found very little useful information in this book. Some points were simply redundant and others held no place in educated society--[one] phrase for example were highly childish and derogatory. Additionally, Mr. Thompson's language and examples were often [biased]. It is no wonder that Mr. Thompson is no longer a teacher of English. The classroom is much safer without him.
Rating:
Summary: The Title Says It All
Review: I bought this book several years ago after watching a telecourse by George Thompson. As a new police officer, I had been getting numerous complaints and having a generally difficult time getting people to cooperate. Like all new officers, I didn't really know the problem was actually me. Dr.Thompson describes encounters from his past that could easily be my own. He learned the hard way, and so did I. Now older and wiser, I recommend this book to all my trainees. It is an effective way to train yourself before the complaints start rolling in. I had one trainee read this book and saw an immediate improvement. Naturally, this book won't solve all your problems, but it can place you on the path to assertive and effective communication with difficult people. Best of all, you can usually influence them into doing what you want without them even realizing it.
Rating:
Summary: Formulaic and oversimplified, but... it works!!
Review: I first read this book about ten years ago. I then took a course by the same title at the police academy. Essentially, Dr. Thompson tries to take a few simple concepts and by simplifying them further, give police officers a way to de-escalate conflict. My first thought as a negotiator was that these concepts had been dumbed down too much, but I decided to give it a chance in the real world. For the most part, it works. Every time I used his techniques on a police scene, the situation was settled without force.
I believe that this book is a good starting point into the arena of active listening. The area that should be expanded on is the response... i.e. situational response based on more factors than a book can cover (personal experience, perception, urgency, etc...) vs. the patterned responses suggested in the book.
I recommend the book, but I would consider twice before taking the expensive follow-up seminars (unless of course - your department is paying for them :))
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff for difficult people.
Review: I have had the good fortune to go through the Verbal Judo training that Dr. Thompson provides for police officers. I also have the good fortune to work with a lot of very good people who are, or who are aspiring to become, teachers. Dr. Thompson's use of clear and specific language combined with his breadth of experience have resulted in a book that I recommend most highly to teachers, school administrators and anyone who would like to improve their ability to deal with people more effectively. I can certainly see why the wimps that Dr. Thompson describes wouldn't like what he has to say! Ron Pendleton, Ph.D., Professor of Education & Reserve Deputy Sheriff
Rating:
Summary: The Title Says It All
Review: Like many books, I first came upon this book, because it was referenced in an article. And I have since read this book many times. Just saying verbal judo to others gets a laugh. However, this is a very serious and valuable book. Have you ever walked away from someone, telling yourself, "Next time ... I am going to be prepared. Next time, he or she will not get me. I will be read.?" What mastering verbal judo takes is for you to be fully in the moment, conscious of who you are, and conscious of what you are experiencing, in the presence of your interlocutor. I have taught myself to smile, on the inside, and to even, ever so slightly nod, when someone has insulted me. This is my anchor, if you will, to breath my way to using their insult to defuse what just happened. Here's an example, "Calm Down!" My Verbal Judo response: (said in a calm, relaxed demeanor) "I am as calm as I know how to be, right now. And with your help, I can be more calm. Are you ready?" This response is an acknowledgement of your interlocutor, and it is a declaration of your self-respect. This is teaching your interlocutor how to treat you well. Another example is, "You think too much!" My Verbal Judo Response is, "Yes. I do think a great deal. And I thank you for your disguise compliment, because thinking for myself is so important to me." My response told this person that I value who I am, and that I appreciate his or her awareness of what matters to me. Over the years, because I use life as a human lab, I have created several real life examples of how to respond, instead of reacting to manipulative people, or as Scott Peck would call, "evil people." An additional tool in my being able to do this was when I read John Bradshaw's, "Healing the Shame That Binds You." I learned what stops a person from being able to master verbal judo, in the present moment, really is fear (false, education, appearing real). And when you realize that your conscious mind is telling your subconscious mind what to do, you are free to tell your conscious mind that although you have just been attacked, this is your opportunity to teach this person to take their self-hate somewhere else. Read this book as a tool to get more out of your life. The authors are humorous, wise and compassionate. And the book is so easy to follow that you will be compelled to master the lessons.
Rating:
Summary: A must for cops, teens, politicians, and all people
Review: Scenario: You're on the freeway and a road rage driver hits you. You yell epithets at him. He yells back at you. Before you know it, the two of you are pulled over and the LAPD doesn't realize you have a video camera...oops, wrong scenario. The next thing you know, there's a police officer in your face, yelling at you. "He started it" makes you sound like your two kids in the back, who along with your spouse think this is an episode of "COPS" gone wrong.
Or you could just listen to the presidential debates and then send the candidates this book. Then get rid of the pundits and send in George Thompson, Verbal Judo expert, and Jerry B. Jenkins, who refines this communication samurai's sword into a mighty pen. The result: a useful book on communication as a martial arts form. Thompson and Jenkins add several acronym communications formulas and the use of "strip phrases" such as "'preciate that, oyesss, understan' that."
Why should I bother to shove my ego out of the way and empathize with the customers/kids/cops/parents that make my life difficult? Thompson and Jenkins make it clear that difficult people are a way of life. Or to summarize in concrete terms, you have a choice to yell "He started it" at the police officer instead of saying, "Sir, here is what happened."
Read this book and you can spare us more arrests, more divorces, more tension, and more campaign gaffes replayed endlessly.
Rating:
Summary: Great Content, but you might already know it
Review: This basically teaches you what most veteran cops or experienced business men probably already know. If you've been around and are successful at what you do, you probably don't need this. If you're a rookie or even just a teenager, this will give you lots of insight on how to interact with people, convey to people why your idea works best, and will help you avoid more serious confrontations either with you a loved-one, a parent, or a violent suspect on the streets.
Rating:
Summary: Verbal self defense
Review: Verbal judo is about controlling - and winning - encounters by using words as your weapons. But in the context of verbal judo, winning means that everybody wins: You win by making a difficult person more responsive and therefore you can direct the encounter to unfold the way you like. And he wins, because the encounter can be solved in a civilized manner, without arguments. The author is a black belt practitioner of judo and tae kwon do karate, and a former college English literature professor turned to a cop. This unusual background shows clearly, because the book is written in an analytical (yet entertaining) way, is filled with references to Latin and ancient Greece, the author uses citations of ancient samurai wisdom, and the book is packed with usually humorous, and always educational cop stories. The book is written mainly a street cop in mind, but the author constantly stresses that these principles can be utilized by anyone: businessmen, department store clerks, teachers, parents trying to raise children, and so on. The book is very entertaining, yet educational. In the book, the author gives you a lot of advise on how to handle specific situations along with general guidelines to follow in all communication with other people. Some of this advise seem selfevident (but which you have not necessarily been conscious of), and some seem reasonable and realistic. There is also some advise I found very strange to a point being ridiculous. Nevertheless, I recommend this book to anyone who has ever found himself in an unnecessary fight, or thinks that he ends too often in the losing end of an argument.
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