You Are the Message

If there is only one book that you want to read to understand media or communication , then read this one.

Fundamental a leitura!

I got this book because it was mentioned in a more academic, scholarly book on persuasion. I was looking for something similarly academic and scholarly, and I’m not sure what made me believe this was to be had in a book with an image of its author on the cover.The book is just a collection of mostly self-aggrandizing anecdotes pointing to vague concepts that never get fully fleshed out. Read it if you like, but you’ll have to look elsewhere if you’re interested in mastering public image.

This is, indeed, one of the best books out there. Others' reviews have laid out that rationale. I continue to recommend it to my students.That said, there's a huge element of "Hollywooding" in this book that pushes style over substance. The most prominent example, interestingly, is one that Ailes takes great pains to describe in detail. It's about Ailes' involvement in preparing Reagan for his second debate with Walter Mondale where Reagan delivered his famous line about youth and inexperience. Ailes continually emphasizes, without explicitly stating it, that style is as much (or greater) a factor than substance. Something that Ronald Reagan certainly took to heart, and that's in full-blown evidence on Fox News today (which Ailes produces) with the blonde babes, et. al.Ailes certainly offers a great deal of technique, but it seems to come largely at the expense of substantive argument, rationale, and (oops) fact. Fox's "fair and balanced" always reminds me of a wicked line from Margaret Thatcher, one of Reagan's buddies: "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."

I'm generally sort of critical of these kinds of books, but some of them have some real value. I don't always agree with everything even "the valuable" ones say, but they tend to give a different perspective that even a curmudgeon like myself can't help but respect. (good example being "How to Win Friends and Influence People", a book I grudgingly recommend to people pretty frequently)This book, honestly, seems more like a string of "Look at this great anecdote about this famous person I gave advice to" and less about the actual meat of the advice. And, in the end, often that advice is pretty simple. Be true to yourself and such. Honestly I think the whole book could probably be summed up in 1/5th as many pages.I have little doubt the author is wonderful at influencing people to be better versions of themselves, but I wasn't impressed at all with his encapsulation of these methods in the written word.Ultimately, I gave up on the book about halfway in. I just couldn't justify pouring over it to pull out those relatively few key ideas I might want to be focusing on.I would recommend looking to other sources and give this one a pass.

YOU ARE THE MESSAGE by Roger Ailes is a timeless masterpiece on personal presentation skills and public speaking. From years of TV network experience and national politics (consultant to Ronald Reagan), Ailes has deep wells of experience from which to draw.Public speakers, executives, and leaders of all types will benefit from his instruction on how to be more effective, persuasive, professional and credible.The key point of the book is that effective communication depends not only on what you say, but how you say it. Although marketing, politics, and journalism have changed in decades, these lessons are timeless.Ailes present exercises for speaking and presentation skills. The tips and techniques are invaluable. What works in front of the camera also works in person. Non-verbal cues are so important in interpersonal communication. Most important, how we present ourselves to others speaks volumes about who we are - what we believe, value, understand, as well as our character.This book is the sine non qua for anyone interested in leadership, business, marketing, politics or communicating with others!