Jen Psaki's brilliant memoir should become a staple for the bookshelves of working moms and anyone interested in mastering communication skills. I loved this book.

Ms. Psaki organized the book around different pieces of advice on communication. As the former White House Press Secretary she has had many unique experiences with communicating. I enjoyed learning about her time working with Biden, Obama, Kerry and other senior politicians. I absolutely loved the sections on balancing work as a working mom. Jen describes real life situations with her family in a way that is relatable and valuable. Throughout the book she discusses her successes as well as her failures. I appreciated the vulnerability that she displayed in sharing some of her failures.

Her advice on communication is spot on and relevant for everything press conferences to difficult conversations with bosses to kindergarten parent teacher meetings. The writing is very accessible and reading the book you feel like you are talking to wise friend. I took away many valuable insights on communication and learned about a phenomenal leader and role model. This book is a must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been interested in stuff that happens behind the scenes and this fit the bill. I enjoyed the stories, although sometimes they seemed a little repetitive and went back and forth so for me, I would have preferred a more progressive approach. Something this book did well was explaining mistakes and what happened for them to occur, she didn't shy away from saying she made a mistake and that's huge because most people will find a way to blame others. Thanks for the opportunity to read this one.

3.5

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner books for this advanced readers copy. The minute I saw Jen Psaki was writing a book about her time in the White House, I knew I would have to get my hands on it. She was always so composed and professional in all her interviews. In her book, Jen speaks of how she moves up through her career and finally gets the job in the White House working with President Obama. How she spent so much time prepping to possible questions for those interviews. She writes briefly about Trump and speaks to her time working with President Biden. Jen intersperses stories of her career with when she has her children and how they may or not have affected choices in her life and her final decision to leave the White House to pursue her current career at CNN working alongside other journalists such as Rachel Maddow. This was a small look into Jen Psaki’s fascinating life working alongside past and present presidents and having insider knowledge of what she could and could not share during interviews.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Scribner for an advanced copy of this book that is a bit memoir, a bit political, but very helpful in sharing and showing how communicating one's ideas, can not only be helpful, but is more and more necessary in these polarizing times.

Talking to people is not one of my strong suits. Working retail has made me better at it, but talking is still not one of the things I am comfortable with. People who work with me, or know me are used to it, but be prepared for a lot of silences if one ever meets me. I think one of my lowest grades in college came from Interpersonal Communications. An easy A for some, but not for me. So I have always been interested in books by people who make the livelihood by speaking to others. Not actors, nor musicians, but those people who have to speak for a living, sometimes about things close to their heart, sometimes bad news, sometimes just out and out falsehoods, that even when being said, know is going to come back at them. People who can disperse information, answer complex questions, or not laugh out loud at a stupid utterance from someone else. Jen Psaki has this gift. Able to field questions about politics, policy and sometimes questions that are just pointless. Psaki has worked in two presidential administrations, and now has a highly rated and respected show on MSNBC. Say More is Psaki's first book, a memoir about her experiences in government, and the lessons she learned along the way on how to speak to people be it press, presidents, or people.

The book begins with Psaki first day in the White House as the White House Press Secretary, and all the oddness of the day, along with Psaki's first meeting with the press. Also how Psaki hoped to bring back a better relationship with the press corps, after the last administration and their problems with truthiness. The book than moves around describing different times in Psaki's life, campaigning door-to-door in Iowa, working for the State Department, working for Barak Obama, and finally Joe Biden. Each chapter is set up to highlight a situation, and the lessons that Psaki learned, or brought to the situation from her past. Even talking to her own family, Psaki shows what good communications bring, and how easy it is for mistakes to happen. This mistakes can poison a relationship be it with the press, an administration, or one's own family.

Not the usual political memoir. No daggers are put in backs, no real slights discussed, a little trash talk but that is to be expected, and frankly wanted. What Psaki has written is a book about what Psaki has learned over the years, and how one can practice these lessons in the home, or at work. I enjoyed the fact that she is frank about mistakes, and not getting what she wanted, something that happens to all of us in life. Psaki did not let these hiccups bother her, and in fact as progressed far in her career. Some of these might seem obvious, but humans are very prone to letting the basics slip past us. Psaki use of real life events, along with practical advice really hammers home what Psaki is presenting.

Recommended for people who think about a life in communications, or in politics. One has to do the research, and sometimes deal with a few difficult people, like Rahm Emanuel, but one can't let that get in the way of doing one's job, or communicating with others.

I have been a fan of Jen Psaki since 2020, and was really interested to read her memoir and learn more about her background. I ended up learning a lot about her communication style and her advice for how to have difficult conversations, ways to show that you are listening, and what to do when you make a mistake. These tips were really helpful and gave me confidence to try using some of these skills in my non-political life.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in communication, politics, history, and the art of conversation.