We are witnessing lately a burst in our access to information. Google, Bing, Social Media, Micro Blogging, Digital Media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, and Pinterest, among others, are allowing us to access actualities, sometimes even before they occur.

In the midst of this remarkable digital information age, the questions that I have been asking myself lately are: are we becoming more knowledgeable?; Is the access to such a massive flow of information enhancing our intellectual abilities?; Are we becoming better critical thinkers due to the fact that any information we seek is one Google away?

Irrelevant to what is my stand concerning the above questions, I have a genuine belief that in our quest to be informed, we are finding little time to seek knowledge; Knowledge that is formed through getting exposed to the minds of acclaimed authors (in this case in the field of PR and Communications), reflecting on their writings, and building a knowledge base to become better practitioners.

Lately, and more than ever, I have been asked by different clients, colleagues and friends about my list of the best PR and Communications related books which I always answered with enthusiasm, being a big advocate to the everlasting importance of a book. This led me to the idea of this post, which is to go and ask my entourage about their preferred reads and compile an extensive list of interesting books that can be considered a corner stone for a knowledgeable PR and Communications practitioner.

I am not claiming that this is “THE” list, nor its uniqueness. This is only an attempt to present what can serve as a base for any knowledge seeker and hopefully challenge his/her intellect to become creative in the field of PR and Communications.

Wishing you happy reading:

A Geography Of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist Levine A Practitioner’s Guide to Public Relations Research, Measurement and Evaluation Stacks ,Michaelson A Rhetoric of Motives Kenneth Burke About behaviorism Skinner Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life: A Practical Introduction Dainton & Zelly Arguing and thinking Billig Audiences: A sociological theory of performance and imagination Abercrombie , Longhurst Bridges Not Walls: A Book About Interpersonal Communicaton John Stewart Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication Putnam , Nicotera Changing Minds Howard Gardner Close relationships Kelley Communication and social order Duncan Communication, Action and Meaning Pearce,Vernon Communications of innovations: A cross-cultural approach Rogers, Shoemaker Confessions of a Public Speaker Scott Berkun Conducting Interaction: Patterns of Behavior in Focused Encounters Adam Kendon Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide Jenkins Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice Cornelissen Counterstatement Burke Creating Effective Groups: The Art of Small Group Communication Randy Fujishin Crush It! Gary Vaynerchuck Crystallizing Public Opinion Bernays Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity Brenda J. Allen Difficult Conversations Stone, Patton, Heen and Fisher Diffusion of innovations Rogers Digital Strategies for powerfull Corporate Communications Argenti Duarte’s Slide:ology Nancy Duarte Enchantment Guy Kawasaki Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations: A Study of Communication Management in Three Countries Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently Maxwell Harvard Business Review on Communicating Effectively Harvard Business Review How To Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie Human communication theory: The history of a paradigm Harper Influence: Science and Practice Cialdini Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone Goulston Language Shock. Understanding the culture of Conversation Agar, Michael Lectures on Conversation Harvey Sacks Made to Stick Heath & Heath Man-made language Spender Manufacturing consent Noam Chomsky Mass Communication theory Denis MacQuail Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future Baran, Stanley J. , Davis. Mass Communications: Living in a Media World Hanson Mass Media and Society James Curran &Gurevitch Mass media research: An introduction Wimmer, Dominick Measure what Matters Paine Messages: The Communication Skills Book McKay, Davis,Fanning Media effects research Sparks Mind, self, and society Mead Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist George Herbert Mead Mythologies Roland Barthes Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers Scoble , Israel Pragmatics of Communication. Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson Present Your Way to the Top David J Dempsey Presentation of self in everyday life Goffman Propoganda and democracy. Cambridge UP. Sproule Public Relations Startegies and tactis Wilcox et al Remediation. Understanding New Media Bolter, Richard Reputation Rules: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset Diermeier Rhetorica Aristotle Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms George Homans So What? How to Really Communicate what Matters to Your Audience Mark Magnacca Speaking into the air: A history of the idea of communication Peters Speech communication in the 20th century Benson Spin: How to Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage Michael S. Sitrick Start with the Why Sinek Strategies of Psychotherapy Jay Haley Technopoly Postman The Age of Access Rifkin The Art and Science of Communication: Tools for Effective Communication in the Workplace Perkins, Brown The Cluetrain Manifesto Levine, Locke, Searls ,Weinberger The Dance of Change Peter Senge’s The dialogic imagination Bakhtin The Ethics of Rhetoric Richard M. Weaver The Face-to-Face Book: Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace Keller ,Fay The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy Berry, Keller The interpretation of cultures Geertz The Language of New Media Manovich The Lost Art of Listening: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships Michael P. Nichols The Magic of Dialogue Daniel Yankelovich The Media Monopoly Bagdikian, B.H. The medium is the massage McCluhan,Fiori The Reality of the Mass Media. Luhman Niklas The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Erving Goffman The process of communication Holt, Rinhart,Winston The Psychology of Attitudes Alice H. Eagly and Shelly Chaiken The psychology of interpersonal relations Heider Semiotics: The Basic Chandler The Silent Language Edward T. Hall The social construction of reality Berger, Luckmann The Social Organization of Zen Practice: Constructing Transcultural Reality David L. Preston The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything Stephen Covey The Tipping Point. Malcolm Gladwel Theories of Human Communication Little John & Foss Six Pixels of Separation Mitch Joel Trust Agents Chris, Smith Twilight of Press Freedom (The Rise of People’s Journalism) Merrill, Gade, Blevens Corporate Communications Argenti Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Marshall McLuhan Yearning: Race, gender and cultural politics Hooks YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day Jarboe

Let’s make this list even bigger and why not 1001…tweet, share, or comment your own preferred list and I will update and circulate accordingly…

@RogerJabaly