Review of Trust Signals

[Shuntel Max]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Trust Signals" by Scott Baradell.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Trust Signals by Scott Baradell is an informative, engaging book that bridges the gap between professionals in the PR field and everyday people with relative ease. Right off the bat, the book’s tone reminded me somewhat of an argumentative essay in the way Mr. Baradell sells the reader on what he has to say, The effect this had on my understanding of the book as somebody not in the field was tremendous. I can tell that the author wanted his book to be readable by all audiences, too, as he includes definitions of less common words. The inclusion of analogies and pop culture references also ensures that the book’s message is clear to the interested layman. The book’s organisation is also clear and simple, with headers that basically summarise or introduce what’s going to be discussed. Such a seemingly small thing is a big help when entering a new topic!


Mr Baradell’s use of ethos in this book is perfect for lending credibility to his works. He shares case studies of clients he himself has worked with and also pulls on the credibility and authority of other recognised names in fields similar to his. His facts are straightforward and easily verified, and his writing is concise yet amusing. The addition of anecdotes coupled with a first-person point of view allows the reader to get a glimpse of the author’s personality even in an instructional book. Another place where the organisation shines is the little summaries at the beginning of each chapter called the “top takeaways”. The brief, bullet-point summarisation of the upcoming chapter also puts its content into simpler words.

One thing I was confused about was the change in formatting every once in a while to a smaller font in a grey box. I was unsure if the text in these boxes was supposed to be excerpts of different articles or asides from the author. A header or something like it to introduce these asides could be used to remove any possible confusion.

Overall, I would rate Trust Signals a 4 out of 5. I would recommend it mainly to business owners and anybody with a product to advertise.

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Trust Signals
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