Six books exploring confidence, influence and good decisions
For those in the northern hemisphere, the days are long and thoughts are turning to holidays. Here are six books we recommend this season – engaging and interesting reads that offer useful insight. For more tips check out our winter list of top books and films.
Decoding Confidence
Advita Patel
Confidence can be treated as something people either have or don’t have. Advita Patel challenges that idea, exploring how confidence develops, why many professionals underestimate their expertise and how self-belief shapes careers. This is a great book for communicators, because influence depends on more than technical skill. The ability to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions and advise senior stakeholders often requires confidence as much as competence.
The Art of Gathering
Priya Parker
In this thoughtful and refreshing book, Priya Parker argues that meaningful gatherings begin with purpose. Whether conferences, strategy retreats, community events or stakeholder engagement convenings, she demonstrates how intentional design can transform the quality of conversations and relationships. With tips (always share a workbook in advance, never begin or end with logistics) and examples from her own life, this is an inspiring read that will leave you with new ideas for all kinds of events (and parties) – creating experiences people actually remember.
Visual Thinking
Willemien Brand
Anyone can draw, with this book. With step by step guidance and fun visuals (of course), Willemien Brand unlocks the potential of visual thinking to help teams solve problems, communicate complexity and align around decisions. Through simple techniques and examples, she shows how sketches, diagrams and visual frameworks can improve understanding and collaboration. For a holiday read it’s great – don’t forget to pack your markers and sketchbook.
Vulture
Phoebe Greenwood
Vulture is a fictional satire of the war news industry, written by a former correspondent who covered the Middle East for British broadsheet newspapers. The novel follows an ambitious young journalist, who is sent to Gaza to cover a war from a four-star hotel. As the book twists and turns, the protagonist puts others around her in danger as she follows a risky story she’s determined to bag. As the role of journalism changes in our endlessly moving world, and nonprofits look to newsworthiness as part of their PR strategies, this is an interesting read with a new, honest perspective on the ethics of storytelling. The story explores the western media’s complicity in the tragedies that feed it.
Fundable and Findable
Kevin L. Brown
This is a branding book disguised as a fundraising book. Many organisations face the same challenge: they’re awesome, but funders don’t know they exist. Kevin L. Brown sets out a methodology for building that awareness from a solid foundation: defining your theory of change, USP and narrative before you go out looking for money. For communicators getting increasingly involved in fundraising, this book is accessible, practical and usable.
The Workshop Survival Guide
Rob Fitzpatrick
Facilitation is a core skill for comms leadership. Whether running strategy sessions, stakeholder consultations, campaign planning or team retreats, the ability to guide productive conversations is a competence that can be learned and nurtured. This book focuses on practical facilitation, offering useful tools for helping groups move from discussion to decisions. The book is grounded in real-world experience and avoids the jargon that often surrounds workshop design – it’s just helpful and easy to read.
AI for Public Relations
Stephen Waddington and Ben Verinder
How could we read six books and not talk about AI! This book explores how organisations can implement AI responsibly, effectively and strategically. It sweeps across governance, workflows, risk management, team capability and the practical realities of integrating AI into communications functions. The challenge, they point out, is no longer whether to use AI, but how to use it well. As we reach for the universal skills that will protect our careers from AI, this book is a helpful and practical reminder to focus on our uniquely human judgement as we create AI-enabled comms teams.
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Thinking comms at the beach?
We’ll be keeping our brains tuned up this summer and are ready to hear from you! Want to engage a values-driven team to help you grow your impact? Get in touch for a quick call or find out more here.
