Completely Engaging

Would you listen to Way with Words again? Why?

I downloaded this book when I wanted to up my game and become more adept at speaking to larger audiences of senior managers. In retrospect I should probably have been looking in the 'management' or 'leadership' section, but I am glad that this was my first download on communication. These lectures are unlike anything I have found in those topic sections, nothing really compares. This series of lectures is completely engaging, there was not one moment where I got bored, tuned out or turned off. I have listened to this series twice more since and each time I find myself completely enthralled.

What did you like best about this story?

I am not going to give it away, you can listen for yourself, but you will find that Michael is an amazing story teller. He manages to convey passion for he subjects he lectures in, and he maintains that passion from start to finish. If it were a fiction novel it would be a real page turner one of those books that keeps you guessing, the fact it is of an educational nature makes it a treasure!

Have you listened to any of the narrator’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Michaels style is brilliant, I have listened to the whole the 'A Way With Words' series and my favourite is part three 'Grammar'.

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1 person found this helpful

impressive book on rhetoric

enjoy this book more than I thought I would when it comes to becoming an effective communicator

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Way with words

Fascinating listening.

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4 people found this helpful

Loved this book

Really insightful and learnt plenty of new techniques.

I would recommend this to all audiences

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Best book on rhetorics I've found so far

I've searched far and wide for a good book on rhetoric, and it is ironic that there are so many bad ones out there. This is a good one though. You will learn some useful tricks in the book, and the 'author' teaches you these tricks in an engaging way.

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One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to

If I could give this ten stars, I would! Excellent, brief and accessible. Wish I had known some of this before but better later then never.

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Nice intro to rhetoric from an enthusiast

The speed of the intro rattles along, but the lecturer's enthusiasm keeps your attention and it's good fun.

Highly recommended, but the speed means that you'll need to follow up with a little reading online or hard copy to fix the ideas.

Drout has a strong US accent, but his love for the English language and Anglo Saxon makes his lectures delightful listening. Feed your brain!

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9 people found this helpful

Genius

There are any number of books out there which purport to transform the reader into into a master of persuasion. The joy of Prof Drout's book is his personal charm as a lecturer and the rigour of his approach which mixes medieval rhetorical theory, modern research into logic and communication alongside great examples from modern masters of the art like Martin Luther King. In addition to this his qualififcations in journalism offer additional insights into the various ways in which the written as well as the spoken word can be used to persuade. Invaluable to anyone who needs to communicate for a living but also a thoroughly pleasurable listen. Buy this book.

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6 people found this helpful

classroom lecture

very good reference material. that's all I wanted to say but more words are required.

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Great introduction to rhetoric

Because I'm usually more interested in the subject of history, I was at first hesitant about buying this book. When I saw this was by professor Drout, however, I decided to give it a try. I'd listened to his course on the anglo-saxons before, so I figured this might be good. I wasn't disappointed!

Professor Drout has an excellent way of teaching. He tells amusing stories, references geek culture, and his way of speaking clearly shows his enthausiasm for the subject. Teachers often try to be too funny and forget to actually teach you anything, or try to be too serious and fail to convey any enthausiasm. Drout manages to walk that fine line where the humour actually helps the learning process. Because you have to admit, it's easier to remember how a syllogism works (or rather, how it doesn't work) if you have a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail as an example.

As for the subject matter, it turned out to be very interesting indeed. Drout clearly sets out all the important parts of rhetoric, discussing each part in turn. He gives everything the attention it deserves, without losing sight of the big picture. And while I wish there'd been more time for the professor to explain some more logical fallacies and figures of speech, it is only an 8-hour course, and there's only so much you can cram into that amount of time. That said, if Drout were to make a course on either of those subjects, I'll definitely be buying it.

Now excuse me while I go listen to the whole thing again for the third time in a row.

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5 people found this helpful