Book review: How to stand out by Rob Yeung
Okay, so I got very behind on my book reviews in the last few months, and I’m finally getting caught up on them. The first book I’m perusing from the to-read pile is How to stand out: Proven tactics for getting noticed by Dr Rob Yeung, which is a tome that aims to help people succeed in their careers.
It’s a mixture of recent scientific studies explained succinctly and clearly for the lay person and vignettes about ‘outstanding’ people the author has interviewed or watched performing. I found the scientific research reviews the most useful, and they were laid out in an easy to understand format, and written about in just enough detail and at the right pace to absorb and understand the important points.
The book’s split up into four main subsections: boosting self belief, persuading through non-verbal communication, winning with words, and ‘augmenting performance through passion’. The first three would probably help you to stand out and get noticed, especially if you’re an office worker for a large corporation, or you have to do presentations and pitching to colleagues or clients. The final section seemed to me to be more about being happier in your career and creating situations where you’re able to grow and thrive – but it’s still useful stuff.
I think most people would find a number of the ideas in the book helpful, and it would definitely be worth getting up to date with the research and trying out a few of the suggestions to see whether they work for you. If you’re feeling a bit stuck in your career, or even hating your job, it could be worth a read to shake things up.
Finally, for balance, I have to say that I wasn’t entirely keen on some of the description in the author’s vignettes and interviews. Successful people were always described in glowing terms, and it was nearly always superficial level stuff about the way they looked: someone who ‘looked like beautiful actress Kathleen Turner’ or a ‘square-jawed’ man who ran his fingers through his ‘Superman-thick’ hair… Most people don’t have these physical attributes and never will, and I personally found it a bit alienating, rather than inspiring. You might like it though, it’s a matter of personal taste.
How to stand out: Proven tactics for getting noticed by Dr Rob Yeung has an RRP of £10.99 and is available at Amazon priced £10.68 for the paperback.
