The best 31 Listening books

Love More Fight Less provides straightforward directions on how to develop communication skills that will help you and your partner handle conflict. Various activities let you practice the skills, and this Blink details how to use these communication techniques in real-life situations.

We’ve all been in situations where rational discussions get quickly out of hand, and Crucial Conversations investigates the root causes of this problem. You’ll learn techniques to handle such situations and shape them into becoming positive and solutions-oriented, while preventing your high-stakes conversations from turning into shouting matches.

Listen Like You Mean It (2021) is a friendly, comprehensive guide to deepening relationships through the power of listening. Too often, our conversations with family, friends, and coworkers remain superficial – we talk past each other, refrain from showing vulnerability, or get caught in a tangle of misunderstanding. With tips and scripts taken from the author’s experience as a user researcher, we can improve our listening skills and, in doing so, be heard and understood ourselves.

People Skills (1979) is a guidebook to learning effective communication skills. It illuminates the conversational roadblocks that impede good communication and damage relationships – and offers alternative methods for listening, asserting, and handling conflict.

How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less (2000) is a guide to connecting, communicating and expanding your social world. These blinks will teach you how to strike up a conversation with strangers and make them like you. It’ll also show you how to decode even their most subtle gestures.

Being likable is an art you can ace.

Mastering Communication at Work (revised edition, 2021) is a classic guide on leading in the workplace through strong communication skills. It teaches you how to communicate effectively by understanding your listener’s tendencies and motivations.

These blinks introduce the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as a compassionate way of being with ourselves and others. Through simple techniques, you can learn how to consciously change your language and thinking to forge better quality relationships with others.

We Need to Talk (2017) walks you through the art of good conversation – a vital but often undervalued skill. It shows how effective conversation leads to more meaningful relationships and a greater understanding of other people. The book also offers advice on how to improve your own conversation skills.

How to be Love(d) (2022) teaches you how to transform your thoughts and actions to give, receive, and experience more love in life. Full of relatable stories and actionable advice, this guide will teach you how to rid yourself of useless programming, embrace imperfection, and honor your progress – so you can better love yourself and others.

Difficult Conversations (1999) takes a look at what makes a conversation difficult and why we often try to avoid them. It outlines how to correctly approach and maneuver through tough topics to build positive and meaningful relationships.

Say What You Mean (2018) is a guide to meaningful and productive communication. It shows how you can leave old, unhelpful habits behind and develop the skills to speak your mind in a clear and authentic way. It also teaches some simple practices to make your conversations more effective and satisfying.

The Art of Communicating (2013) offers valuable insight on how you can become a more effective communicator by practicing mindfulness. Drawing on Buddhist wisdom, it outlines ways you become a respectful listener, express yourself well, and ultimately improve your relationships with your loved ones.

Management Mess to Leadership Success (2019) is a guide to renovating and polishing your management skills. Through relatable, personal anecdotes of fumbles, missteps, and what not to do, it offers applicable challenges for you to revamp your team by providing a step-by-step guide on how to lead yourself and others and deliver results.

The 11 Laws of Likability (2011) is a guide to networking built on one simple fact: people do business with people they like. These blinks will explain how to discover your most likable characteristics, start conversations and keep them going, and make a lasting positive impression on people.

Just Listen (2009) combines time-tested persuasion and listening techniques with new methods to help you get your message across to anybody. By learning how to be a better listener, how the brain works and how people think, you’ll be able to motivate people to do what you want because you’ll better understand their needs.

You’re Not Listening (2020) casts a spotlight on the undervalued skill of listening. It’s filled with examples of talented professional listeners, as well as practical advice for getting more out of conversations with others – not by saying more yourself, but by listening more closely to others.

Raising Good Humans (2019) is a mindful parenting guide that teaches you how to stop yelling and get grounded. It features healthy practices that can help you break generational cycles and be a better parent.

Against Empathy (2016) provides a wealth of scientific research to show empathy for what it really is: a flawed emotional reaction that has led countless people to make bad decisions. While many voices have called for others to have more empathy, Paul Bloom shows us that empathy can make things worse rather than better.

We Over Me (2023) is the story of the podcasting-and-influencing power couple Devale and Khadeen Ellis – in their own words. With trademark disarming honesty, the Ellises lay bare the struggles and successes that have shaped them as a couple, and share the strategies that allow them to thrive as a partnership. 

Getting to Zero (2021) is a guide to dealing with conflict in intimate, high-stakes relationships – those with your family, good friends, and partners. It describes a process for “getting to zero” by achieving resolution and closure after conflict.

Raising Human Beings (2016) is part practical guide and part manifesto about the power of collaborative problem-solving. Using threats, bribes, and punishments doesn’t change children’s behavior sustainably. That’s because you just end up suppressing the symptoms of the problem, instead of addressing the root cause. Instead of engaging in power struggles, try asking your children what’s really going on, and brainstorming solutions together. Not only will you come up with better solutions – your relationship will improve dramatically.

Talk To Me Like I’m Someone You Love (1993) is a relationship repair tool that coaches couples on how to speak to each other more genuinely.

The Argument Hangover (2021) is your guide to constructively fighting with a romantic partner so that you both learn from the conflict and emerge from it even stronger. Through clear communication, you’ll be surprised to find how disagreements can suddenly become opportunities for growth.

Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen (2020) tackles the thorny subject of communicating with tweens – those adolescents between the ages of ten and fourteen who are beginning to pull away from their parents and close down lines of communication. This is the age at which “big” topics like sexuality, money, and life choices are more important than ever. But it’s also the age at which having a conversation with your child is harder than ever before. So what can parents do? Well, it’s time to learn a new way of talking with, and not at, your tween. 

Flip The Script (2019) helps you up your sales and negotiation game. Sales is all about the art of persuasion but we all know that nobody likes to feel manipulated. In order to sell your idea or product in today’s world, your buyers need to feel like they’re making that decision on their own terms. Flip The Script provides techniques that allow you to subtly convince anyone that your idea is the right one.

I Don’t Agree (2020) is a practical guide to improving your conflict resolution skills. Disagreement is seen as bad, and even scary. But, actually, conflict can be a powerful engine for growth if you know how to deal with it effectively. I Don’t Agree provides ten practical strategies that will help you become an expert in dealing with conflict in all areas of your life.

Let’s Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower (2021) is a guide to handling one of the trickiest parts of being a manager – giving feedback. Dr. Therese Huston draws upon her cognitive psychology research and her experience as an educator and consultant to help you understand how to give feedback in a way that benefits everyone involved.

Talk Lean will teach you how to express your thoughts in a direct, candid, yet courteous manner. The author shares effective, easy-to-apply tips for having a productive conversation that helps achieve your goals.

Missing Each Other (2021) is a scientifically sound exploration of human connection. This wide-ranging primer explains how to truly bond with others in our fast-paced world.

Humility Is the New Smart (2017) is your ticket to success in the new smart age of machines. These blinks are a practical guide for thriving in a world that’s increasingly run by machines, both on and off the job.

Don’t Take Yes for an Answer (2020) identifies why some people consistently achieve career breakthroughs, while others struggle to reach their potential. By adopting an attitude of continual self-improvement and learning three crucial communication skills, you can achieve exceptional results, regardless of your field.