George J. Thompson (–2011)

Verbal Judo: Redirecting Behavior with Words by George J. Thompson is a book supporting what he calls tactical communication. A former high school and college English instructor, and part and full-time police officer, Thompson combined "his knowledge of Aristotle and the advantages of rhetorical thinking plus his black belts in Judo and Tae Kwon Do" in creating Verbal Judo.

First, this is not my typical read and would categorize it the same grouping as all those books instructing in how to exceed in sales and make customers want to buy more than they need. Verbal Judo does the same thing without being overtly about sales, but in fact it is the same thing. It is a method of getting people to think the way you want them to think and allowing them to think it is all their doing.

The actual writing style reminded me of a poorly scripted Saturday morning cartoon. The conversations seemed forced and always "just so" to fit the situation. Of course, when the situation gets tough Verbal Judo comes to the rescue and there is that happy moment of revelation at the end of each example.

If you are interested in the concept skip to the back of the book where the maxims are located. These end up being the morals of each of the example stories in the book:

Motivate others by raising their expectations of themselves.
Persuade others with their energy, not your own.
Give way in order to control.

Perhaps it is part of my military training or that my normal activities do not require me to interact and sell to customers that influence some of my negative thinking on this topic. It is common practice in today's world to oversell, and in politics to make one vote against their own interests. This little book, clumsily, attempts to explain how to do just that.



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