Five Stars Book Summary

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Key Insights

The key to success is great communication. While many people are talented and have good ideas, they will not become successful if they are not able to successfully persuade others that their talents and ideas have merit. Both great written and verbal communication are essential for being an effective communicator.

Keep It Simple 

The best way to effectively communicate with people is to focus on only one concrete, tangible goal. When people can rally behind one shared goal, rather than an abstract idea, they are more easily able to understand and focus their attention on achieving that goal. The goal should also have a clear picture for completion, and concrete deadlines, for it to be accomplished.

For example, when President Kennedy wanted to put a man on the moon, he focused his speeches around that one, clear goal. Rather than discussing NASA’s many different objectives, Kennedy effectively focused on inspiring Americans to want to work toward achieving the single goal of putting a man on the moon, instead of thinking about the abstract merits of a strong space program. This effective communication of one clear goal helped enable NASA to send Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969. 

In addition to keeping their goals clear and concrete. great communicators also know to keep their language clear and simple. They should never use longer, more advanced words when short, simple ones will do the trick. Sentences should clearly and easily convey your ideas and focus on clarity over everything.

A good rule of thumb is to use words and sentences that are around a tenth-grade level. Research has shown that around the tenth-grade level is the point where most Americans understand content most clearly. Beyond that, the message gets confusing, the clarity of your communication suffers, and your content is not as effectively understood. 

To ensure your audience is most likely to understand your content, you can use the Readability Index. The Index is an algorithm used by publishers that assesses the grade level of textbooks’ content and ensures it is appropriate for each grade level. Speakers can use the Readability Index to assess the grade level of their speeches and ensure they are communicating to their audiences at the clearest and effective level.

How to Interview Effectively

Interviews are about more than hard skills and technical know-how. In order for interviewers to really understand who you are, you have to communicate your skills and merits through storytelling. To begin, think of yourself as a character inside a story. Then, structure your interview answers with a clear beginning, middle, and endpoint, and include clear motivations and actions for your character.

These story-based answers require practice, and you should consider recording them and playing them back for your friends in order to receive feedback on your answers. You want them to sound natural, and to truly convey a compelling story about yourself. 

Haseeb Qureshi, a software engineer, employed these storytelling interview techniques to make himself marketable to prestigious Silicon Valley tech companies, even though on paper he had several disadvantages. He...

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