As a freelance copywriter, this was an incredibly useful book on why the messenger is just as important - if not more so - as the message and how you can make sure you're heard.

Easy to read and highly accessible, it covers a wealth of research which explains the complexities around getting people to listen and why it is we'll accept the same information from one source when we''d reject it from another.

It's a book which is invaluable to anyone who needs to communicate effectively, whether that be a leader, social media influencer or, yes, a writer.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

This book takes you by the hand and walks you through the different personality types of a whole range of messengers from Politicians to Social Media Influencers end even your friends. Chock full of supporting Psychological research, some really well known, some less well known but all equally relevant. It explains why during times of national crisis that voters tend to prefer a more robust leader who displays more dominant personality types, and why at the rest of the time voters are drawn to leaders who display more altruistic or warm characteristics who are more likely to be a gentle guiding hand. In relation to recent events, for example Brexit and Trump's Presidency, the writers attempt to explain how these events came about and these demonstrated the success of events against the considered wisdom. It is easy to see how people can have their opinion changed by a speakers body language, hand gestures or the subtle use of their personality, all without the listener being aware of it.

If you have an interest in the human psyche or want to be able to spot when you are being manipulated then this is the book to you.

Worked my way through this book, enjoyed some parts more than others, thought provoking in places, glad I read it

Messengers by Stephen Martin and Joseph Marks should be one of those books that everybody reads. This book looks at what makes us decide whether to listen to and if we trust their message. The authors, behavioural experts explore the traits that determine if we are heard or if we are ignored, showing how an appearance or financial status can have a huge impact on people listening if when the message might be wrong. Analysing the nature of speakers with they use cues, both verbal and physical to give signals that their message should be trusted. This is a fascinating book especially for anyone who needs to do public speaking.

The subtitle of Messengers is ‘Who We Listen To, Who We Don’t, And Why’. In a world that has given us Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, learning the answer to this question seems worth the effort involving reading the book, but having finished it I’m not sure that I’m any clearer.

This is a pop psychology book with all the strengths and weaknesses of that genre. It starts out with a lot of anecdotes – some mind-blowingly banal (somebody who tweeted something on the same day that Barrack Obama tweeted something very similar got millions fewer re-tweets) and some quite fascinating (employees of an Indian entrepreneur with a caring management style offered to work for nothing when her business was in trouble).

Anecdotes, though, obviously don’t make up a convincing argument so the book quotes lots of psychological experiments, some by the authors and some from other sources. The problem with this approach is that you have to take an awful lot on trust. I’m sensitive to this because my degree was in Experimental Psychology and I’m aware that very small differences in the way an experiment was conducted can have quite profound influences on the outcome. It’s difficult to be confident in the results of an experiment which has been reported in a few short paragraphs. This is an inevitable problem with this kind of book and does not reflect badly on the authors, but it does mean that if you accept their arguments you will trust the research and if you don’t you will (probably at least sometimes justifiably) dismiss the research. In fairness, research studies are well footnoted and you can follow them all up, but it is unlikely that the non-specialist reader that this book is clearly aimed at will ever do that. You have to take a lot on trust and, ironically, one of the main messages of the book is that humans are terribly bad at judging when they can take stuff on trust and when they should be more sceptical.

Leaving these reservations aside, what does it tell us? Very crudely put, it suggests that we pay more attention to the characteristics of the messenger than we do to the characteristics of the message. We like leaders to be tall and square jawed, or empathetic and caring. It’s an analysis that explains the appeal of Donald Trump. He is a classic alpha male – bombastic, dominant, and pugilistic. Some of this, according to the book, is innate. He was born with a face shape that is associated with dominance. (There is a photograph that illustrates how facial height to width ratio is calculated, enabling this to be quantified.) Some of it may have been learned over his lifetime: the way he stands, the amount he gestures with his arms, the deep timbre of his voice. Perhaps it’s significant that when comedians who do not share his political approach mimic him they tend to emphasise the speech mannerism where his voice can suddenly move into quite a high register. Or perhaps it’s not – the authors don’t mention this.

That’s part of the trouble. Human behaviour is complex. Few people are consistent. Boris Johnson is often compared to Donald Trump, but untidy blonde hair is not the attribute that the authors think is important. On the attributes they do think important – posture, vocal mannerisms, etc – Boris is almost the antithesis of Trump. He bumbles on, waffles and, to a degree, charms – but he hardly fits the stereotype of an alpha male.

In fairness to the authors, they do acknowledge the complexities that underlie many of the behaviours they analyse – but perhaps still not enough. So, for example, at one point they write:

"[Apologies] are … immensely powerful social tools, critical to the repairing or re-establishing of relationships. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd provided a formidable demonstration of this when, in the course of a four minute speech in February 2008 he issued a public apology for the way in which indigenous Australians had been treated years before he himself had achieved public office. He recognised, he said, that he needed to “apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians”."

Much later, in a separate discussion of apologies, the authors point out that an apology is only likely to be affected if it is “made quickly… made sincerely. And it needs to be made in a way that shows remorse and commitment to change in the future.” Kevin Rudd’s four minute speech could not possibly have met these criteria and yet the authors explicitly link it to “the highest satisfaction rating of any Australian Prime Minister”.

Obviously there is more going on than can be covered in one relatively short volume. In fact some of the simplifications border on the absurd. At one point the book argues that an experiment showed that facial features are so crucial that “a glance at the faces of candidates running for election was all that was needed to make an informed, and largely accurate, estimate of who would (and indeed did) win.” Whilst what a candidate looks like can be a significant factor, the suggestion that facial appearance can be used to accurately predict the outcome of real elections would, if true, suggest that the selection of legislators by popular ballot is an idea that needs to be reviewed. Personally I am not suggesting that we abolish democracy, but that we view statements like this with grave suspicion.

There is usable, and indeed valuable, stuff in this book. It does no harm for us to be reminded how much we allow irrelevant assessments of people’s social class, dominance, or empathy to affect what should be rational judgements. This can even extend to favouring loan offers which are accompanied by a photograph of an attractive woman rather than an attractive interest rate. There are practical lessons to be learned, too. My wife does some university lecturing and I have passed on the information that lecturers who make more arm movements whilst speaking are perceived as better teachers by their students. In the new world of university education, where student assessment is critical to career advancement, I can confidently predict a fair amount from arm waving next term.

Overall, though, I found this an irritating book – neither an easily read series of anecdotes nor a serious academic study, it repeatedly overpromised and underdelivered. If, however, you honestly believe that you would never form your initial (and surprisingly firm) view of somebody based on the logo on their polo shirt, then perhaps you need to read it.

Really interesting delve into the world of communication and leadership, and how we can be seduced, put off or misdirected by various factors. In particular it focuses on status and the softer cues like charisma, i found this really interesting and will feed into my studies on business and leadership.

The premise of this fascinating book is that we have a strong in-built tendency to believe the messenger rather than the message. It explains why "self-confident ignoramuses", even those with an axe to grind or pure self-interest at heart, are believed over experts - simply because we often can't separate the message from the messenger.

The book is a detailed study of such people in two parts, namely 'hard messengers' (who have lots of wealth / status, competence, dominance, attractiveness, or a combination of them all) and 'soft messengers' (they have warmth, vulnerability, trustworthiness and charisma in various combinations). "Messengers" also discusses when and why each type of messenger is likely to be more successful.

This book is remarkably well-researched yet very readable. It uses many case studies and has a comprehensive list of sources and references, many from reliable scientific sources, and frequently quotes published academic research.

However, the book is a long way from a dry academic tome - I found myself reacting emotionally, especially to phrases such as 'voters replace the question "who is the most competent candidate?" with "who looks like the most competent candidate?"' It's sad that this happens, but it clearly does.
Furthermore, when a population experiences worry, hardship or fear, they are more likely to look to dominant leaders - this is certainly not an original idea, but it does show how the manufacturing of fear and crises (e.g. hordes of immigrants, increasing crime, etc) act to promote or keep a 'strong' leader in place. We should all be wary of this.

On a final note, it's well known that first impressions count but I was surprised by how much people are influenced by the most fleeting of glances. I'll just have to upgrade my wardrobe (with lots of red!) and get my hair done more frequently I guess...

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

In this age of post-truth and disinformation it is so important to be able to communicate clearly - and to understand the messages we are being sent. Martin and Joseph's book approaches the subject in a logical and thorough way, explaining the different characteristics of messengers in a readable yet comprehensive way with plenty of examples supported by references. I found this book illuminating, informative and very helpful.

This was a fascinating book bringing together research about the people who influence our lives and who we choose to listen to, and why. In Part One, 'hard' messengers are discussed. These are people who are seen as having socio-economic status, competence, dominance and attractiveness. In this context, it's explained why for example, celebrities are used to endorse high-end products such as perfume, They are selling the illusion that by buying those products, the consumer can achieve status themselves. Dominance is a trait that Donald Trump has in spades, and helps to explain his inexplicable rise to the presidency.

In Part Two, 'soft' messengers are examined. These messengers still have influence over us, but tend to convey traits such as warmth, vulnerability, trustworthiness and charisma. Various examples are cited from years of research and it is fascinating to reflect on the influences that shape us, whether it be in personal relationships, in our career choices, in who we vote for and the products we buy.

Anyone who has an interest in psychology and current affairs, will thoroughly enjoy this well-researched and well-written book.

A very interesting, important & timely read. This book will make you reassess & question who you listen to & May even persuade you to give more time to those whose voices are often ignored.

This is a fascinating read with lots of supporting research and some very contemporary references e.g.the ascendancy of Trump in part based on his perceived and amplified status and business acumen.
Interesting too to find the book broken down into Hard and Soft Messengers. The former are areas like socio-economic position and competency and the latter in part two of the book, are the more connected ways a messenger can be effective such as warmth, vulnerability and trustworthiness.
Little nuggets are peppered throughout such as those lacking confidence and aspiring to status, being more likely to purchase from snooty sales assistants.
There's a lot of very interesting and practical research supported information in this book which makes it an engaging and surprisingly easy read. I strongly recommend.

A really enjoyable read. Quick and light but with interesting insights.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has questions about the human psyche

Messengers is a tour de force of information, illustrations and anecdotes about why we listen to some people but not others and the effect this can have regarding what we believe or don’t. There is a plentiful list of data from scientific research from which the authors draw their conclusions. At face value it’s an excellent popular level study and draws examples from the worlds of high finance, social media, celebrity and politics to name a few. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to be better informed and aware of why we might listen to some people but reject others, of why we might reject a good argument in favour of a bad one depending on who is offering the argument. It should help us understand our own subconscious biases as well. The reason I’m giving this four rather than five is simply because while there are plenty of referenced studies and data, I simply don’t have time to check them to see if I agree with the studies themselves or the writer’s analysis of them, so to some extent I’m taking on trust the conclusions from these studies. Definitely recommended though, well worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House UK/Cornerstone for ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! A really useful insight to the human psyche, who we listen to, and why. Quick and easy read with lots of points that raise awareness not only on society as a whole but with helpful knowledge we can apply to ourselves as well, whether to be more responsible about who we listen to, or in getting more people to listen to us in turn.

A riveting and valuable insight into why people behave the way they do. The information has been gathered through numerous scientific studies and presented as a readily readable anecdote, not only to past and current significant events and crises, but also as a useful reference tool in understanding our own psyche. Thoroughly recommend.

This was a fascinating and highly accessible read which was informative and entertaining at the same time. Recommended for people like myself who have a passing interest in the subject explored here, as well as working professionals.