Enchantment Book Review from the Island of Enchantment

Out of the business books I have read, not many are as diverse as this book. I met Guy Kawasaki at the Samsung Bloggers Lounge just before he was going to hand out complimentary copies of his latest book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions (Amazon Affiliate Link). I had the privilege to receive a copy autographed by Mr. Kawasaki himself and was able to shake his hand and talk for a full 30 seconds.

At first I was very skeptical that the title would not fit me because I am more about finding people with my interests than trying to please everyone. As I started reading, I realized how Guy directed the book to genuine enchantment without each person having to stop being themselves.

He focuses on the Importance of what people are thinking, feeling, and believing. Another interesting point in the book was how Guy guides you into the importance of swearing in some occasions and how that can also help enchant. The book overall is a guide towards creating win-win situations from various aspects. From creating relationships by achieving trustworthiness, to making a better presentation using powerpoint and becoming more effective using email.

In the chapter dedicated, “Achieving Trustworthiness”, it was interesting to see how trust between people leads to business and recognizing when they are playing games.I will be using that one as an indicator every time I see people are playing games with my clients or myself. I am very transparent and Guy urges people to disclose their interests.

His points on Reciprocity and the 3 forms which he states are explicitly expecting something in return, an investment in the future, and for intrinsic reasons. Guy does a great job explaining which one is not enchanting and which one is the best representation of enchantment.

Here are great pointers on how to overcome Resistance. I found these two examples most useful like:

• Making people understand your products
• Finding Bright spots that are already working

I am a big fan of treating everyone right. Guy also dedicates a whole chapter on Enchanting your employees. He gives some great tips on allowing your employees to do the right thing and using inspiration over intimidation, you can achieve a lot more.

Enchantment also gave me the opportunity to learn and understand of the following terms:

• Making Crow’s Feet
  • Staying away from the Pan American Smile

  “The Pan-Am smile, also known as the “Botox smile”, is the name given to a “fake smile”, in which only the zygomatic major muscle is voluntarily contracted to show politeness. It is named after the airline Pan American World Airways, whose flight attendants would always flash every jet-setter the same, faked smile.” source ~Wikipedia

• 10-20-30 rule of creating a presentation
  • No more than 10 slides
  • No more than 20 Minutes
  • No font smaller than 30 points
• Keeping your email to 6 sentences
  • Why you are contacting the person
  • Who you are
  • What your cause is
  • What you want
  • Why the Recipient should help you
  • What the next step is
  • Where the Term Devil’s Advocate Derives from
  • Will make sure I get my copy of Presentation Zen Design based on Guy’s Recommendations

The value I got out of Enchantment made me  plan to go back and read some of his previous books.