This book shows how a good schmooze can be turned to social benefit, without the humiliation of "sucking up" or the hypocrisy of the "the hard sell."
The good schmooze is talk about life itself: the good, the bad, and the ugly-a heartfelt interaction with others-chatting, not "chatting up." The Lost Art of the Good Schmooze: Building Rapport and Defusing Conflict in Everyday and Public Talk is about what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. Full of insights that will prove useful at work, at home, with friends, and just about everywhere else, the book will help readers become tactful schmoozers who can defuse situational tensions and lubricate personal, social, workplace, and political interactions with others.

The book is organized around five occasions: schmoozing in social interactions, family schmoozing, schmoozing in the workplace, schmoozing in education, and schmoozing in cross-cultural interactions. Examples of both successful and failed schmoozing are drawn from television, films, news, and everyday life. Hundreds of real-world verbal interactions illustrate how recapturing this lost art can lead to increased harmony in all spheres of life.

Diana Boxer, PhD, is professor of linguistics at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.