31 books to help you learn about communication

Read any good books lately? I’m going to share my recommended reads with you to help you learn more about internal communication, PR, social media and personal branding.

I held my latest Internal Communication Masterclass in London yesterday and shared lots of book titles with the professional communicators who attended.

Based on their feedback, I’m going to reveal some of those with you via this article. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time focusing on the practitioners to boost their skills, knowledge and confidence.

It’s such a privilege to run my All Things IC Masterclasses, I’m proud to offer a confidential place where you can get help, share challenges and meet peers.

My latest dates are now live . I’d love you to come and join me in London. IoIC and CIPR members earn CPD and can save 20%.

What was it like to be in the room yesterday? Michelle James has kindly shared her feedback:

“Exceptional course presented by a highly skilled presenter. Rachel’s knowledge of all things IC is superb. Thanks for sharing a great many insights to the group Rachel!”

Thank you Michelle, I’m delighted you were able to come yesterday.

I’m pictured with Eleanor McManus, Internal Communications Manager for the Brain Tumour Charity. We were recently matched in the Institute of Internal Communication’s new mentoring scheme and I’m looking forward to our work together.

Recommended books

If you are looking for a book to read to learn more about communication, you are spoilt for choice as there are many good ones around.

Want to talk with other comms pros about books you read? This year CIPR Inside introduced its #ICBookclub. See @CIPRInside for more information and to join in.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading this year. So in no particular order, here are some books I recommend to help you learn about internal communication, PR, culture and related subjects. There are 31 on this list and I’m sure there’s something for everyone!

What would you add to my list? I hope you find it useful.

I have all of these books on my shelves and recommend keeping them within reach. I’ve included personal branding ones too as you’ve been telling me you’d like to know more about the topic.

Further reading on the All Things IC blog: A beginners’ guide to personal branding.

Internal Communication:

• Exploring Internal Communication – by Dr Kevin Ruck, Gower, (2015)
• The People Business, Annabel Dunstan and Imogen Osborne, Kogan Page (2017). Read my interview with the authors
• Internal Communications: A Manual for Practitioners (PR In Practice) by Liam Fitzpatrick and Klavs Valskov. Kogan Page (2014)
• Strategic Internal Communication: How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance by David Cowan. Kogan Page (2014)
• Making the Connections: Using Internal Communication to Turn Strategy into Action by Bill Quirke,(2008)
• From cascade to conversation by Katie Macaulay (2014)
• Internal communications: insights, practices and models by Aniisu K Verghese (2012)

Books I’ve contributed chapters to:

• Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals (Wiley, 2012)
• Share This Too: More Social Media Solutions for PR Professionals (Wiley, 2013)
• Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success (Wiley, 2013).

Public Relations (PR) and social media

• Myths of PR: All Publicity is Good Publicity and Other Popular Misconceptions (Business Myths) – by Rich Leigh, Kogan Page (2017)
• The PR Masterclass: How to Develop a Public Relations Strategy That Works by Alex Singleton. Wiley (2014).
• Brand Media Strategy, 2nd Edition: Integrated Communications Planning in the Digital Era by Antony Young. Palgrave Macmillan (2014)
• The Public Relations Strategic Toolkit: An Essential Guide to Successful Public Relations by Alison Theaker and Heather Yaxley. Routledge (2012). Update: The second edition of this book is out now.
• Brand Vandals: Reputation Wreckers and How to Build Better Defences: Corporate Reputation Risk and Response – by Stephen Waddington, Bloomsbury (2013)
• Social Media Explained: Untangling the World’s Most Misunderstood Business Trend by Mark W. Schaefer. (2014)
• Your press release is breaking my heart, Janet Murray (2016).

How organisations (and people) work

• Tribes by Seth Godin Piatkus (2008)
• Hit Refresh: The Quest To Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul – by Satya Nadella
• Riding the waves of culture by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997)
• Drive by Daniel Pink (2011)
• Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed (2016)
• Busy, how to thrive in a world of too much by Tony Crabbe (2015)
• Leaders eat last – why some teams pull together and others don’t by Simon Sinek (2017)
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek (2011)
• Yes! 50 secrets about the power of persuasion by Noah Goldstein (2007).

Personal branding and development

• KNOWN: The handbook for building and unleashing your personal brand in the digital age, by Mark W Schaefer (2017)
• Personal branding for Brits, by Jennifer Holloway (2013)
• Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant (2017)
• She Means Business, by Carrie Green (2017)
• Youpreneur, by Chris Ducker (out early next year but I have an advanced copy, thanks Chris!).

What would you add to my list?

Feel free to comment below or Tweet me @AllthingsIC.

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Get help with Christmas comms

Are you working on Christmas content at the moment? See my recent articles for ideas and inspiration to help you:

Thank you for stopping by,

Rachel

Post author: Rachel Miller.

First published on the All Things IC blog 23 November 2017. Updated 2018 and 2019.

Disclosure: Books are linked to my Amazon affiliate account.