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Verbal Judo
Audiobook
First published February 7, 2017
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 9, 2026
Verbal Judo by George Thompson isn’t completely without merit, but it feels far longer than it needs to be, and the way the author presents himself and his authority repeatedly pulled me out of the material.
To be fair, I think many readers will find much of the book’s advice to be common sense, but I don’t think that means it lacks value. Being reminded to consider another person’s perspective, ask clarifying questions, summarize what you’ve heard, and respond with empathy can be genuinely helpful. Even ideas that seem obvious can be difficult to apply in the heat of a verbal confrontation, when emotions are high and self-control is hardest to maintain, but the book gives advice for doing just that. For readers who are unfamiliar with these communication techniques, the book does a solid job explaining how to use them, but doesn’t go much into the psychology of why they work. That said, I’ve basically told you the author’s method in this paragraph. For some reason, he takes 207 pages to do it.
If the author had focused primarily on clearly explaining his communication framework, this likely would have been a three- or even four-star book for me. It would have been a much shorter book, but it would have been better. Unfortunately, nearly every chapter reiterates the author’s résumé (his background as a police officer, his PhD, and his black belt in (actual) judo) often in ways that feel unnecessary and self-congratulatory. The book also leans into uncomfortable stereotypes, such as references to a “wise Indian” mentor and quotations attributed to unnamed “samurai warriors,” which are presented in awkward, broken-English syntax. On top of that, all of the book’s supporting “data” comes exclusively from anecdotes, with at least one personal story per chapter standing in for empirical evidence. Without exaggeration, the author spends the first third of the book talking about how great he is and how amazing the techniques he’s going to teach are in dealing with communication issues.
Overall, there is some useful knowledge here, but not very much of it. I’m honestly a little disappointed, because I was hoping for more. Maybe a teen struggling with effective communication skills might find more use in this book. For most adults, however, it’s unlikely to offer much new insight that couldn’t be found for free online or presented more thoughtfully in stronger, more evidence-based communication books. Or just general life lessons for that matter.
To be fair, I think many readers will find much of the book’s advice to be common sense, but I don’t think that means it lacks value. Being reminded to consider another person’s perspective, ask clarifying questions, summarize what you’ve heard, and respond with empathy can be genuinely helpful. Even ideas that seem obvious can be difficult to apply in the heat of a verbal confrontation, when emotions are high and self-control is hardest to maintain, but the book gives advice for doing just that. For readers who are unfamiliar with these communication techniques, the book does a solid job explaining how to use them, but doesn’t go much into the psychology of why they work. That said, I’ve basically told you the author’s method in this paragraph. For some reason, he takes 207 pages to do it.
If the author had focused primarily on clearly explaining his communication framework, this likely would have been a three- or even four-star book for me. It would have been a much shorter book, but it would have been better. Unfortunately, nearly every chapter reiterates the author’s résumé (his background as a police officer, his PhD, and his black belt in (actual) judo) often in ways that feel unnecessary and self-congratulatory. The book also leans into uncomfortable stereotypes, such as references to a “wise Indian” mentor and quotations attributed to unnamed “samurai warriors,” which are presented in awkward, broken-English syntax. On top of that, all of the book’s supporting “data” comes exclusively from anecdotes, with at least one personal story per chapter standing in for empirical evidence. Without exaggeration, the author spends the first third of the book talking about how great he is and how amazing the techniques he’s going to teach are in dealing with communication issues.
Overall, there is some useful knowledge here, but not very much of it. I’m honestly a little disappointed, because I was hoping for more. Maybe a teen struggling with effective communication skills might find more use in this book. For most adults, however, it’s unlikely to offer much new insight that couldn’t be found for free online or presented more thoughtfully in stronger, more evidence-based communication books. Or just general life lessons for that matter.
Displaying 1 of 1 review