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The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds


This book has lots of glowing praise written all over the covers. Such lines as Andy Bounds taught me more about effective presenting than a lady who'd previously taught two US Presidents. Unsurprisingly, my expectations were sky-high. But will the book deliver? I have to say at the outset that I didn't particularly take to the title (although original and presumably unforgettable). I found it detracted at first glance and didn't do the book any initial favours. And although it is explained in full I still felt it light and an Americanism too far. But that's just my personal opinion. That aside, I was keen to start reading, see what all the fuss was about ...

The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds

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Buy The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Business and Finance
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Louise Laurie
Reviewed by Louise Laurie
Summary: This book is a user-friendly 'how to sell better' business book. Punchy and to-the-point Bounds gets his enthusiastic message over well.
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 320 Date: July 2010
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 978-0857080462

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Straight away there are bold headings, bullet points, graphs etc. This all, I believe, helps get the message across. As Bounds says himself on page 3 This book is easy to read time-efficiently. Then he launches into sharing his expertise with the reader. He even suggests parts of the book to most definitely read and parts that perhaps can be left out. I took to his no-nonsense approach and style immediately. Statements such as Business People Say Too Much Irrelevant Stuff struck a wry chord with me and probably will do for many others so I was already engaged and keen to gobble up all chapters. Bounds tells us that he makes regular presentations to often large audiences. His presentation of his book is excellent.

Chapter headings such as Networking and How to Sell More do what they say on the tin. On the former he takes the reader step-by-step through the whole networking maze. He appreciates that it can be a bit scary for some. So he doesn't leave it there. He tells the reader all about pre-planning networking events and the important follow-up procedure. In Bounds own style he'd probably say something like, if you don't follow up, you're stuffed. He says time and time again that these procedures work. They've worked for him, for others and they'll now work for you. Fail-safe.

Interspersed in all of this business language and terminology, are anecdotes and quotations. One which I absolutely loved was Red Adair's If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur. This all brings another dimension to the book. They tend to make you pause and hopefully ponder. About business, of course. And again, in the Networking chapter Bounds wants to turn things on their heads. He takes a simple, over-used statement that we hear almost on a daily basis and asks us to re-think the answer. It doesn't matter what you're selling, the message and the result will be the same.

There's a good chapter on basically how to stand out, be different, from your competitors. Innovative and once again Bounds tells us that his how-to information works every single time. In fact, he gives a lengthy example to prove his point. Himself. Taking himself as the example he tells us how one firm (unnamed) queried his fee saying That's an awful lot of money for a one hour talk. I won't spoil the story for you but I was impressed with Bounds' answer. And so was the firm. I can see why Bounds is successful in his field.

This book is full of sound, proven advice as well as tips and information. It is user-friendly right down to its web addresses and Bounds' contact email and telephone number. Recommended.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

If this book appeals then you might enjoy Brand Society by Martin Kornberger or Storytelling: The Presenter's Secret Weapon by John Clare.

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Buy The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick by Andy Bounds at Amazon.com.

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