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Book Review – Say This, NOT That to Your Professor

Posted by Brian Vickery on Jul 25, 2012 in Blog, Education | 4 comments

Book Review – Say This, NOT That to Your Professor

Welcome to my first video book review. I am happy to choose Say This, NOT That to Your Professor for my first review because it was truly a pleasure to read. As a student who excelled in high school, and then struggled with the freedom and autonomy of college, I wish this book would have existed over 25 years ago!!

I will let you watch the video to get my full impression, but here are the highlights:

Common lesson in the book is Communicate: Communicate Early, Communicate Often, when you get confused or have extenuating circumstances…Communicate!
Ellen introduces a specific format/structure to teach the reader – and then she adheres to that consistent format throughout the book. She provides real-life scenarios, and then she teaches using a “Say This, NOT That”, and “Do This, NOT That” structure. She looks at each scenario from both the student’s and the professor’s perspective.
Ellen’s communication style is very conversational and informal, so the book is easy to read and understand. The suggestions in this book should be easy to adapt for most students’ common issues in college.
I highly recommend this book for both the first year college student and students taking AP courses in high school that can place a higher demand on accountability.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I know you will enjoy the book!

Ellen Bremen’s Information:
Blog: The Chatty Professor Blog
Twitter ID: @ChattyProf

I received Say This, NOT That to Your Professor as a review copy from the publisher. I received no other compensation. The links above are not affiliate links. I sincerely recommend it as a gift to first year college students.

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Brian Vickery

I love my wife and two daughters. I am blessed in that I also love my job as a principal and EVP of the Rocky Mountain Region for Mantis Technology Group. I am excited to promote our Pulse Analytics social media monitoring and sentiment analysis solution. I enjoy teaching and coaching. I graduated UT-Austin. You can find Brian on Google+.

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4 comments

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dadblunders

Great review Brian! I was like you in the fact that I excelled in high school and then the autonomy of college made me loose focus. I actually did not graduate from college until later. I dropped out the first time and it wasn't until I was older with more maturity that I was able to complete a degree. I wish they had something like this for me the first time I went to college. I think about all the time I wasted. I try to stay positive though and realize that it is a combination of all my life experiences that made me who I am today. Aaron

Brian Vickery

We are definitely a product of our experiences, Aaron. I do wish I would have had this book...because approaching professors, who had a stronger focus on research than teaching students, was intimidating. However, this book really provided guidelines on how to approach the instructors and "captivate their interest" with sincerity and genuine concern for classroom performance vs just making a grade. At the end of the day, I still think college is more about survival and getting that piece of paper to get your first professional job. After that, it gets back to being a product of our experiences, and School of Hard Knocks and Missteps is a better school than any formal classroom.

Emilie Eggleston

Hey, that was great! It sounds like a really valuable and easy to read book! Too bad I’m in my last year of college and my closest young relatives aren’t even in high school yet. You’re good in front of the camera too… the sound was a little quiet though.

Brian Vickery

Thanks, Emilie. Sorry the sound was quiet - guess I should have amplified a bit (sometimes I do, but must have had my speakers cranked more than normal). Glad you liked the video portion, and I appreciate the compliment. The book is very easy to read, and each chapter is a practical recipe to resolve common issues students face all the time in college. Ellen brings a wonderful empathy, and she injects humor along with the case-studies. You could almost imagine her telling you the story over a cup of coffee ;) Thanks for stopping by, Emilie.

Trackbacks

Hecklers’ Hangout – featuring Margie Clayman and Brian Vickery | Brian Vickery – Social Media Sport Analogies says:

August 31, 2012 at 1:39 pm

[...] and some of the more common obstacles to their success. We feel that Ellen’s book – Say This, NOT That to Your Professor – is an outstanding resource for college students. We look forward to her insight and to your [...]
#HecklersHangout 25 - Ellen Bremen and a 3 Day Social Media Fast | Brian Vickery says:

March 11, 2013 at 1:04 pm

[...] week’s Hecklers’ Hangout. Some of you may know Ellen as the most-excellent author of Say This Not That To Your Professor (#STNT). However, Ellen also has a day job as a college professor ensuring her students are best [...]