Blah Blah Blah

Ever been to so many meetings that you couldn't get your work done? Ever fallen asleep during a bulletpoint presentation? Ever watched the news and ended up knowing less? Welcome to the land of Blah Blah Blah.

The Problem: We talk so much that we don't think very well.

Powerful as words are, we fool ourselves when we think our words alone can detect, describe, and defuse the multifaceted problems of today. They can't — and that's bad, because words have become our default thinking tool.

The Solution: This book offers a way out of blah-blah-blah. It's called "Vivid Thinking."

In Dan Roam's first acclaimed book, The Back of the Napkin, he taught readers how to solve problems and sell ideas by drawing simple pictures. Now he proves that Vivid Thinking is even more powerful. This technique combines our verbal and visual minds so that we can think and learn more quickly, teach and inspire our colleagues, and enjoy and share ideas in a whole new way.

The Destination: No more blah-blah-blah.

Through Vivid Thinking, we can make the most complicated subjects suddenly crystal clear. Whether trying to understand a Harvard Business School class, or what went down in the Conan versus Leno battle for late-night TV, or what Einstein thought about relativity, Vivid Thinking provides a way to clarify anything.

Through dozens of guided examples, Roam proves that anyone can apply this systematic approach, from leftbrain types who hate to draw to right-brainers who hate to write. This isn't just a book about improving communications, presentations, and ideation; it's about removing the blah-blah- blah from your life for good.

• Dramatis Personae
• Introduction: Half of What We Think About Thinking Is Wrong
• Part 1: The Blah-Blahmeter
1. Exploring the Land of Blah-Blah-Blah
2. Advanced Blah-Blahmeter Use
   
• Part 2: If I Draw, Am I Dumb? An Introduction to Vivid Thinking
3. Two Minds Are Better Than One
4. Together Again: The Fox and the Hummingbird
5. The Grammar of Vivid Thinking
   
• Part 3: The Forest and the Trees: The Seven Essentials of a Vivid Idea
6. The Vivid F-O-R-E-S-T: The Six Essentials of Vivid Ideas
7. F Is for Form: Vivid Ideas Have Shape
8. O Is for Only the Essentials: Vivid Ideas Fit in a Nutshell
9. R Is for Recognizable: Vivid Ideas Look Familiar
10. E Is for Evolving: Vivid Ideas Are Complete — but Not Done
11. S Is for Span Differences: Vivid Ideas Include Their Opposite
12. T Is for Targeted: Vivid Ideas Matter to Me
    
• Part 4: Conclusion
13. Bye-Bye, Blah-Blah-Blah
    
• Appendixes
• Appendix A: How We Lost Half Our Mind
• Appendix B: Connections Back to The Back of the Napkin
• Appendix C: The Complete Vivid Checklist
  

This is it! I hereby swear that I will never pay another cent to buy a Dan Roam book again! This is pure unadultered crap, without meaning, without barely any structure, repeating itself ad nauseum and patting all his beloved children/admirers on the back for listening to him! I detest Tom Peters, but I find him amusing, as he admits to what he is. Dan Roam on the other hand, seems to be have an imbecille streak or looks more of less like a con-man who is mostly interested in your money (like any self-help "guru", I have to admit), neither of which I have any interest of reading the ramblings of.

This is best used for ligthning fireplaces with, but the paper may be too toxic. Easiest is not buying it!