The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work
by Suzette Haden Elgin, Ph.D.

Recommended for:
- developing a good communication skillset for the workplace and in business
- understanding how misunderstandings and miscommunications can develop in ordinary situations

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work is not a book that is destined to sit and gather dust on bookshelves. You will not only want to read it for immediate use, you will also find yourself marking passages so that you can find them again quickly. Not only is it easy to read and understand, it will serve as one of your main reference books.

The underlying premise of GVASD at Work is that “language is the only source of real power” (p. 5) and that we can learn to use and control that power effectively.

To help us understand the relationship between language and power, Dr. Elgin uses five categories: the Game Domain, the Business/Professional Domain, the Time and Space Domain, the Public Relations Domain, and the Personal Domain. In the Game Domain, for example, Dr. Elgin discusses the team concept and the challenges posed when you have team players assigned to a project with people who don’t understand how teams function. (pp. 65-68.)

Dr. Elgin also teaches how to use specific language skills, such as using semantic features, metaphors, Satir Modes, and three-part messages.

The chapter on lying, alone, is worth getting GAVSD at Work. (pp. 249-270.) Since a common feature of all arguments and conflicts is that each person involved believe the other person or other people involved are all lying (or at least not telling the truth), this is important information to know. As Dr. Elgin notes, we all agree that lying is wrong; we just don’t all agree on exactly what a “lie” is. Dr. Elgin examines how we can figure out what the meaning of “lying” is, how to detect lying (in many cases), and how to be seen as truthful.

If this isn’t the first GAVSD book you get, it should be the second. Not only does it provide keen insights into how language works and how our perceptions affect our behaviour, it teaches you practical language skills so that you can be successful in your endeavours.

About the author:
Dr. Suzette Haden Elgin is a well known and highly respected linguist, teaching linguistics at San Diego State University until she retired in 1980. She founded the Ozark Center for Language Studies. Dr. Elgin discovered the verbal attack patterns in language and developed The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense. Her first GAVSD book, The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense, was published in 1980 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. In addition to the many scholarly articles, texts and books that she has written on language, she also writes science fiction and is an artist. Her website can be found at http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/.

Published by Prentice-Hall Press, New York in 1997
ISBN 0-7352-0089-0

Review by Anne E. McTavish