How to Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs for Every Situation, Revised Edition

The material is divided into 40 different chapters. Then Appendix I deals with the mechanics of letterwriting and Appendix II deals with the content of letters written. Actually, the word "communications" is more suitable than "letters" because busy executives are constantly required to communicate with others...and do so in a variety of ways. Indeed, all of Maggio's excellent "tools" (as well as her suggestions as to how to use them effectively) are as relevant to telephone conversations and e-mails as they are to business and personal letters. Determine the specific objective to be achieved, organize your thoughts with meticulous care, and then express them with both precision and concision. Maggio explains HOW.

One of the book's greatest benefits is that it provides a wealth of "choice words, phrases, sentences & paragraphs for every situation." Here are the first eight of 40 specific situations, all of which are conveniently listed in alphabetical order: Acceptances, Acknowledgements, (Letters of) Adjustment, (Letters of) Advice, Announcements, and Apologies, (Letters About) Appointment Interviews, and (Letters of) Appreciation. You get the idea.

All busy people should accumulate AND MAKE DAILY USE OF a personal reference library. Here is an excellent candidate to consider for yours.


A very useful reference for any letter-writing occasion.   August 12, 1998
 43 out of 43 found this review helpful

I have utilized this book numerous times for various types of letters. Sometimes I chose words, sometimes I chose phrases, sometimes I chose sentences, and sometimes I chose paragraphs. The actual letters were a great inspiration for my own letters. This book really worked - all my letters based on its suggestions served the appropriate purposes. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!! P.S. I read the other person's review (!) It does not seem that they were reviewing the same book!! The fact that this book contains the "pieces" needed for letters as well as the actual letter examples is an extremely valuable quality of this reference. The topics cover most conceivable situations and are thoughtfully and tactfully presented. It belongs on everyone's bookshelf.


Too much business related - not enough personal.   December 25, 2003
 42 out of 49 found this review helpful

I am a stay-at-home mom looking for simple - yet unique - ways to say "thank you, congratulations, I'm sorry ..." to various people. This book devotes much of its pages to business-related writing, which I no longer need. While I have found a few nuggets of inspiration here and there, I am not particularly inspired by her suggestions of using, "I love it!" for a thank you note or "thinking of you" for a sympathy card. I could probably have come up with those on my own.


My life is so much easier now!   September 20, 2001
 34 out of 34 found this review helpful

If you're like I was, you've got a stack of letters gathering dust and taking up room on your desk because it TAKES SO MUCH TIME and is SUCH A CHORE to answer them all. Not that I didn't love all those people dearly, but what do you say when your childhood friend loses her husband? How can you POSSIBLY maker her feel better? Or what about the letter to the credit company that keeps charging you incorrectly? It's THEIR fault, so why should you spend an hour trying to figure out how to explain their errors? I was getting to be just terrible -- after a while I didn't even bother to send thank you notes. Well, this book was a real revelation for me. It's no surprise that my husband got it for me (somehow I always end up writing HIS letters, too) because this is just what I needed. I write great letters now and I'm able to let people know I care without it taking all day. I have even starting buying nice stationery. If you've got that stack of unanswered mail, you NEED to have this book. No more brain damage, no more searching for the right words, no more worrying about sounding stupid or trying to fill up space on a card. I only wish I'd known about it earlier!


Get a lot of Ays with This Book!!!   June 26, 2001
 27 out of 29 found this review helpful

I would not hesitate at all to recommend this outstanding book for the student studying correspondence. I used this outstanding book in my English Technical Writing Course at my university KFUPM and found it to be very helpful indeed.

First, it teaches you the right way to write many types of letters. It, also, gives you the correct words, sentences, paragraphs, phrases, and sample letters that you may refer to or use to understand and write properly. More importantly, with this book you will save your time as it gives you writing tips and direct you to the right letters formats.

I am really confident that you will very much appreciate this precious book once you buy it. I am sure that you will find your correspondence course to be " no sweat."

And if you are interested in another excellent book in correspondence, buy " Universal letter Writer" written by Andrew Elliot.