To Sell Is Human

The Surprising Truth about Moving Others

By: Daniel H. Pink

Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes a surprising - and surprisingly useful - new book that explores the power of selling in our lives.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than 15 million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase.

But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight.

Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.

To Sell Is Human offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink draws on a rich trove of social science for his counterintuitive insights. He reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it's no longer "Always Be Closing"), explains why extroverts don't make the best salespeople, and shows how giving people an "off-ramp" for their actions can matter more than actually changing their minds.

Along the way, Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another's perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive, and much more. The result is a perceptive and practical book - one that will change how you see the world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.

©2012 Daniel H. Pink (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Full of aha! moments...timely, original, thoroughly engaging, deeply humane." (strategy + business)

"A fresh look at the art and science of sales using a mix of social science, survey research and stories." (Dan Schawbel, Forbes.com)

"Artfully blend(s) anecdotes, insights, and studies from the social sciences into a frothy blend of utility and entertainment." (Bloomberg)

On the Leading Edge of Communication

Welcome to the new face of sells. This explicit and detailed approach to human interaction redefines the core value of sells. Chock-full of rationalities and rules of conduct, this read can enrich your communication with those you know and those you don't.

Outstanding, but forgot to record a section

It "wow"ed me from the introduction through the very end. Mine now looks like a text book from college when the professor says to highlight only the important material and you end up highlighting every word on the page including the page number.
It dropped wisdom like someone picking up beads with buttery fingers.

love this book

it is so awesome to here the author, this is the second time I've read this book. first time with audio. I always learn something new.

Great knowledge for motivating others

I enjoyed the book as well as hearing him read it. Great, useful tips on how to influence and motivate others

Get hammered by an important concept

Everything is very good about this book. Mr. Pink does a great job of narrating his ideas. And the ideas are very important given the time of massive change that we're experiencing everyday. Kind of hard to listen to while driving because I wanted to write down many of Pink's thoughts, suggestions, methods, ideas etc. I would consider re-listening at a latter date to reinforce concepts.

solidified somethings and opened my eyes to many

opened my eyes to many more insights than I though it would. I'm better for it

Good tips; but would like hard copy references

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Least interesting was the death of the salesman analogies, and the fuller story.
Most interesting was chapter 9, with the Kenya drivers and MDs looking at MRIs and CAT scans

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

It was a bit on the lengthy side.

Worth listening to over and over!

An easy to listen to audiobook that would be useful to anyone looking to perfect the art of communication. I feel compelled to listen to it all over again even though I just finished it so I can pickup on nuggets I may have missed the first time!

Another Winner From Daniel Pink

What made the experience of listening to To Sell Is Human the most enjoyable?

The material was presented in a very straight-forward way.

Have you listened to any of Daniel H. Pink’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, I'm a big fan of his book Drive.

Any additional comments?

There is a lot of common sense material in this book regarding sales but it does a great job illustrating how each and everyone of us are salespeople, regardless of our career.

Change my vision about selling

Worth hearing audiobook with well documented scientific papers and fine stories to explain the author's point.