I read this at the same time as Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers and despite the books being on a similar topic/approach, this is hands down the better of the two. It's clever, original, surprising and reading it made me appreciate why he is so good at what he does - he actually listens to the people he consults. Worryingly good'' Jeremy Vine'An insightful, important read' Stacey Dooley'A genuinely brilliant broadcaster' Matthew Syed'Fascinating and thought-provoking' Jane Fallon'Informed, open-minded, fair, astute, caring and funny' Ricky Gervais 'A grand theory of conversation' Dan Snow'The conversation king' Laura Whitmore . It’s a fascinating concept and one that maybe you have pondered when you are considering your communication with those around you, both personally and professionally. Nihal Arthanyake has done a wonderful job of telling us how wonderful conversations by bringing people who need to communicate on.

Ultimately, I dont think 'Let's Talk' delivers on this and feels more like a memoir of Nihal's radio career with the conversational advice being sparce and simple. I picked this up because I wanted to learn 'how to have better conversations' as the tag line of the book suggests I would.As an essential part of my day job as a coach is having better conversations, I was intrigued by what I would uncover when I read “Let’s Talk (How to Have Better Conversations)*. That being said it was an easy read and some of the stories were fun to go through, but if you are looking for ways to have better conversations this isn’t the book. Nihal is nothing less than the most intelligent interviewer in British broadcasting, so I had high expectations for his book on conversations, and it doesn't disappoint.

I found the chapter on The Mechanics of Conversation fascinating; it highlighted how our stress response and the physiological markers change between different types of communication – nothing beats hearing a person’s voice when you communicate! The beginning of the book, with its history of how societies perceived conversation, was interesting enough to me to raise this to a 3* review. Think about how this, and how you can make other people feel when you are interacting with them; however brief that connection may be.If the tag line had been something like " stories from my life as a radio host," it wouldn't have felt like such a letdown. From ever-decreasing face-to-face meetings to echo chambers online, we no longer have the necessary tools to talk to each other. Throughout the book, we are shown the importance of a good conversationalist being driven by knowledge. Whilst as a society we can benefit from instant messaging through text and WhatsApp, we are primed to hear rather than see.