201 Ways to Say No Effectively and Gracefully

Authors Alan Axelrod and Jim Holtje have compiled 201 ways to say "no" in different situations and to different types of people - colleagues and co-workers, salespeople, clients and customers, your boss, your subordinates, and job seekers. You can say "no" to extra work, nuisance tasks, unreasonable demands, bad ideas, and misguided sales pitches. The book offers some good ideas, although its approach is scatter-shot and somewhat superficial. Most of the ideas are based on common sense approaches to turning people down, such as suggesting alternatives, providing explanations, being diplomatic, and being firm if that's appropriate. You may have to be patient to ferret out the ideas that apply to your needs, but they're in here somewhere. getAbstract recommends this book to junior employees, who are most likely to want to say "no," and to those who feel imposed upon because they can't say no.