Every now and again I will get something to review that really causes me to flex my reviewing muscles (which are sadly as prone to getting flabby as the rest of me). Its not that I’ll find myself with something that is so good that it over stretches my capacity for praise or something so bad that I cannot find the words to damn it sufficiently (we all know the latter I dont struggle with).

Nope, it’s just sometimes something is so far outside my remit (although not necessarily that of 020magazine) that I struggle to find a way of doing an adequate review. That has been the case recently with ‘The Jelly Effect’ a book by Andy Bounds a book which claims to ‘make your communication stick’ apparently.

In frank terms this book is aimed at the business community. A world where communication can occur surreptitiously on many levels simultaneously (I used to work in direct sales many many years ago so these concepts are not unfamiliar to me). When I decided to have a look this book however I pondered whether the rules and plans that Andy sets out could be translated into the everyday world, could your communication in daily life get a little bit of pep and sparkle as a consequence of what is contained within these pages.

Andy Bounds took a deeper interest in the way we communicate as a consequence of his personal circumstances. Bounds is visually impaired and his mother is blind, as a consequence he has had to tailor the way he communicates with her in a bid to provide her with information that is relevant to their interactions. In essence trim away all that is superfluous and keep to what is relevant. That in itself has become a keystone to what Bounds illustrates in his book.

The book is broken down into four sections. Networking, selling, referrals and presentations. Granted a good deal of what Bounds covers could easily be seen as common sense but you’d probably be surprised at how often our interactions become unnecessarily padded out. His ‘seminars’ are presented in a very easy to read style and one of the plus sides of this book is that you do not have to read it in a linear fashion, you can cherry pick as and when you please.

In terms of the target audience, well this book is aimed at the business community. Having said that though if you are prepared to give it a go then you might find something of interesting. I’m not saying its the kind of book that is going to change your life/help you pick up women/men but in places there are things of interest. The section on presentations could have been great use to me when I was at Uni.

Not for everyone, but pretty interesting all the same.