Get Your Celebrity Fix And Career Advice In 3 Fun Reads

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 02: Television Personality Kim Kardashian celebrates DuJour magazine's Spring issue collaboration with Kim Kardashian and Bruce Weber at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on March 2, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Standing Ovation Presentations by Robyn Hatcher
Robyn Hatcher is founder and principal of SpeakEtc, a boutique communication and presentation-skills training company based in NYC. She’s also a former actress and writer for two daytime dramas. In her new book, Standing Ovation Presentations (Motivational Press, 2013), Hatcher shares a thorough overview of communication and presentation best practices, told in a unique framework of 9 ActorTypes (e.g., Hero, Ingenue, Villain, Comic, Whiz Kid, Super Hero, Sex Symbol, Buddy, and Salty Veteran/ Curmudgeon). I’m the Villain type, and the book has given me some great ideas!
Hatcher’s book is a great example of a super fun read that also provides valuable career advice. The communication tips are excellent. There is an exhaustively detailed section on how to structure a presentation. Hatcher also covers verbal and non-verbal strategies. At the same time, there are entertainment analogies woven throughout, and there is even an exercise based on monologues from famous movies. You won’t feel like you’re reading a dry training manual even though you’re getting great training tips.
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

On the flip side, Rob Lowe’s Stories I Only Tell My Friends (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2012) is an autobiography and not at all an advice book. It was fascinating to read a first-hand account of movies from my tween and teen years (the chapter on The Outsiders really brought me back). Yet, there are career lessons to be gleaned amongst the intrigue and insider view of Hollywood. When Lowe writes about his preparation for The West Wing auditions, I wanted to hold that example up for my job seeking clients on how exhaustively they should prepare for their own job interviews. Reading about the difficulties that Lowe encountered – personal and professional – and what support and strategies he used to persevere are inspirational and informative even for the non-actor (even an A-list celebrity has low points!). The choices that he made in the roles he pursued (e.g., not always the highest paying), the way he took advantage of lucky breaks, and the way he created opportunities for himself are lessons for any professional navigating today’s up-and-down job market.
Celebrity, Inc. by Jo Piazza
I covered Celebrity, Inc. by Jo Piazza in an earlier post: 10 Career Lessons From Celebrities That Apply To You And Me. This book is the ultimate melding of entertainment and career, and the subtitle summarizes it completely: How Famous People Make Money. Here you can read about Taylor Hicks, former American Idol winner, and how he bounced back after being “laid off” by his record label. You can see that good general career habits matter in celebrity career management as well: a consistent personal brand (Charlie Sheen); strong work ethic (Kim Kardashian, yes, not a typo); market flexibility (Ashton Kutcher). You’ll also learn the importance of income diversification with almost every celebrity story covered.
Who says you can’t have fun while working on your career? If you love entertainment and pop culture, these 3 books will give you your celebrity fix and professional development.
Caroline Ceniza-Levine, career and business expert, writer, speaker and co-founder of SixFigureStart®, works with people who want to make a change –from one career to a new one; from employee to entrepreneur; from manager to executive. She’s also a stand-up comic, so she’s not your typical coach.