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Vibrant, believable characters help drive a fictional story. Along with a clever plot, well-drawn characters make us want to continue reading a novel or finish watching a movie. In Creating Characters, Dwight V. Swain shows how writers can invent interesting characters and improve them so that they move a story along.

"You know that well-connected friend who only exists in the movies? The one who throws the best parties and can set up any introduction you need? Everyone wants to know someone magical like this who brings people together. The secret is: you can be that person. You should be that person. The 2-Hour Cocktail Party will show you how.

This is the story of an American Dream—the story of an Iowa entrepreneur and the business he built through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, the Second World War and the Postwar Boom. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or a history buff looking for a taste of life in the early 20th century, the story of E.P. Arnold and the business he built is a testament to doing things the right way. The traits he cultivated during his life are just as applicable today as they were a century ago when he took a leap of faith and started his business with five hundred dollars and a dream.

In the newly revised fourth edition of Hire with Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Outstanding Diverse Teams, influential recruiting and hiring expert Lou Adler delivers a practical guide to consistently identifying and hiring the best people and scaling that process throughout your company.

Bestselling author Kelly Gallagher argues that to think critically, it’s imperative that we teach kids stuff. Lots of it. Why? Because students who know more are able to read more, and read better.

In many workplaces today, workplace conflict is an escalating issue. The shift to remote work and hybrid teams has left many people longing for deeper human connection. On top of this, add a younger generation clamoring for more feedback and impatient for change, steady advances in technology that can feel threatening to job security, or people reexamining priorities and quietly quitting. Take the increase in anxiety, stress, and depression, mix in the loss of human relationships, and you get less tolerance and understanding leading, ultimately, to more unresolved workplace conflict.

Struggling to engage clients, build trust, or close deals? Sales Development Psychology reveals the secrets to using storytelling as a powerful tool to captivate audiences, overcome skepticism, and boost sales, even if you've struggled before. Designed for sales professionals at all levels, this book delivers concise, adaptable, and jargon-free guidance to help you stand out in any industry. Unleash storytelling's potential and elevate your sales game today!

Entrepreneurs often suffer from "superhero syndrome" - the misconception that to be successful, they must do everything themselves. They are not only the boss but also the salesperson, HR manager, copywriter, operations manager, online marketing guru, and so much more. It's no wonder so many people give up the dream of starting a business - it's just too much for one person to handle. But outsourcing expert and "Virtual CEO" Chris Ducker knows how you can get the help you need with resources you can afford.

Belonging brings out the best in everyone. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don’t feel welcomed, included, and valued for who they are. The good news is that you can use design to create feelings of inclusion in your organization: rituals that bring people together, spaces that promote calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, systems that make people feel respected, and more.

While most retail traders and investors focus exclusively on short-term or long-term strategies...the best investors use enhanced buy and hold (ETFs + options trading). Think of it as buy-and-hold investing on steroids.

Dim Sum Strategy presents a carefully curated selection of proven strategic tools, with insights and anecdotes from three decades working with some of the world’s leading brands at the world’s top agencies. The book is structured to follow the author’s proven Brand Centered Management™ process, with a smattering of different “tools” split into four parts: Discovery, Definition, Direction, and Delivery. Each tool is presented in bite-sized, standalone chunks; you can listen to the book in stepwise fashion or cherry-pick in whatever order you wish—just like a dim sum meal.

Would you like to stop beating yourself up and start harnessing the power of self-compassion? Wish you could take the risks you need to take to succeed? Want to unleash your creativity, increase your productivity, and rediscover the joy of knowing that you are enough? Here are 30 powerful exercises to help you override the “I-must-not-make-mistakes” mind-set of perfectionism. As Shannon’s clinical work with her anxious clients has proven again and again, we can’t change our thinking without changing our behavior.

You see the giant footprints the moment you walk through the door. The conference room is a swirling mess of tension, heaviness, anxiety, and peanut shells. Something is very wrong with your team. Everybody knows it, but nobody is talking about it. It’s obvious there’s an elephant in the room. Is it an Avoidephant, feeding off the fears of retaliation and exclusion? Perhaps it’s a Blamephant—whom we love to feed because it makes us feel better about ourselves. In Don’t Feed the Elephants!, Sarah explores how you can address the true elephant in the room: avoidance.

For thousands of years, we've been warned of a day when the Antichrist will arise to pilot the greatest deception in human history. Whereas many can discuss the dictatorial global economics, societal horrors, and eventual apocalypse that follows his arrival, few know that there are negotiations in the workings at this moment to build the very location where the abomination of desolation will stand in the holy place. This, as the book of Daniel prophesied, will be the catalyst event... The beginning of the end.

The one book you need to navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business - and business family.

Pouring yourself into a single full-time job is the riskiest move you can make. Your parents’ advice to focus on one career path? It doesn’t work anymore, for reasons ranging from recessions to student loan debt, the gig economy, climate disasters, and a global pandemic (to name a few). We need a dramatically different relationship with work, one that allows us to define ourselves beyond our paid labor. The answer? A Portfolio Life.

A comprehensive resource for parents, therapists, caregivers, and educators, packed with lifelong strategies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) management and support.

Learn the building blocks of empathy and emotional intelligence so you can foster perspective-taking, kindness, conflict resolution, and celebrating diversity. Let this book be your roadmap to instilling empathy in your kids—one of the most important skills in becoming compassionate contributors to a kinder, more connected world.

Sly Moves - part candid autobiography, part nuts-and-bolts training manual, part motivational handbook - is a refreshingly sensible guide to getting immediate results that last a lifetime. It's also a provocative inside look at the trials of a body-conscious star rising in the most image-conscious industry in the world.

Finally get results. Many teens know that establishing proactive habits is the first step toward personal success, but often don't know how to implement these habits. Between the pressures of school, social life, and overburdened schedules, it’s no wonder that the average teenager is stressed. In this condensed guide, bestselling FranklinCovey author Sean Covey breaks down the timeless wisdom of the 7 Habits into a realistic weekly format for busy teens.