He Says She Says

Among the many recent books about the different communication styles of men and women, this is one of the more concrete. Glass ( Talk to Win ), a speech pathologist in Beverly Hills who has worked with actors (including Dustin Hoffman for his role in Tootsie ), first distills the results of national polls and other studies to quantify gender differences in body language, facial expression, and speech, voice and behavior patterns. She notes that men's gestures are more angular and rigid than women's and that women maintain closer eye contact than men and tend to sit forward rather than lean back. Chapters on improving male-female interaction in the workplace and on social occasions follow, with greatest emphasis given to effective communication in intimate relationships. Glass offers sometimes repetitive advice on changing aspects in one's voice quality, posture and word choice to communicate more effectively. (July)