The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman

Communications coach Gallo (Talk Like TED) teaches successful speaking and writing by breaking down the communication style of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Intended for professionals in a business setting, the book draws lessons from real excerpts of speeches and shareholder memos that Bezos has delivered over the past 20-plus years. Gallo also mines the records of other successful entrepreneurs for examples of effective writing. Among the book’s basic communication strategies are to write at an eighth-grade level (using words with only one or two syllables, in sentences of varying lengths) and to deploy metaphors and analogies to add interest. Some of the techniques come from screenwriting, such as formulating a logline and developing “three-act” presentations. Key Bezos tactics include replacing PowerPoint presentations with narrative memos in management meetings, working backwards to get ahead (i.e., writing a product’s press release at the beginning of the design stage), and treating every day as “day one.” Additional examples reveal insights on communication at companies such as Apple, Canva, and Airbnb.