One book I really liked on the topic is Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.

I second the Ultimate Sales Machine. Very good book. "Pitch Anything" is decent, too.

I'm a fan of
- Moz.com hosts an overwhelming amount of information.
- Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
- UnMarketing by Scott Stratten
- Influence by Robert Cialdini
- Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

While it's focused on kids, you might find some additional ideas in this article: http://kidscreen.com/2013/08/12/marketing-to-kids-and-famili...

Mindset by Carol Dweck. I felt like I knew the entire argument beforehand so had put of reading it. But I really, really liked it. If you have kids or work with people I would highly recommend it!

Pitch Anything by Oren Claff. The best book I have ever read on the psychology of selling. Especially person-to-person negotiations. Each time I recommend it I always think I need to read it again because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A couple of thought provoking professional reads-

The Sticking Point Solution: 9 Ways to Move Your Business from Stagnation to Stunning Growth In Tough Economic Times > http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6515635-the-sticking-poin...

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal > http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10321016-pitch-anything?a...

* Several excellent recommendations already posted here, always impressed by HNers!

Pitch Anything - About selling and the psychology of selling. Really need to re-read that one actually.

And +1 for Deep Work, So Good They Can't Ignore You or The World Beyond Your Head. They made me realize that being in a profession where you can reach "flow state" actually is a privilege.

Book: Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

Get the audiobook, tone of voice matters.

(Root cause of this dysfunction is the principle agent problem, you can't fix it, everyone tries, everyone fails, accept it and get on with the job.)

I would ditch the summary altogether. You would mention this stuff when recruiters ask you in details.

Here is what I base this on:
"Research has shown that your impression of someone is generally based on the average of available information, not the sum. So telling people one great thing about yourself will leave them with a better impression of you than telling one great thing and one pretty good one".
Pitch Anything - Oren Klaff
http://books.google.com/books?id=P3EFa-WuMMkC&pg=PA98...

So just provide bullet points of the highlights, the accomplishments and the business results.

"Sales" is very broad.

My favorite book about the act of selling (i.e. pitching) is "Pitch Anything" - http://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Anything-Innovative-Presenting-P...

If you're looking for an overall sales primer/bible, your best bet is probably The Sales Acceleration Formula http://www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-...

Here is my full bookshelf: http://www.kirubakaran.com/books-read.html

Books Read in 2016:

1. The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge
- Poundstone, William

2. My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos
- Schechter, Bruce

3. One Summer: America, 1927
- Bryson, Bill

4. The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
- Liu, Cixin

5. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit
- Godin, Seth

6. At Home: A Short History of Private Life
- Bryson, Bill

7. Kings of Kings (Hardcore History, #56-58)
- Carlin, Dan

8. Blueprint for Armageddon (Hardcore History #50-55)
- Carlin, Dan

9. Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal
- Klaff, Oren

10. William Shakespeare: The World as Stage
- Bryson, Bill

11. So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
- Newport, Cal

12. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
- Pressfield, Steven

13. In a Sunburned Country
- Bryson, Bill

14. Cannery Row
- Steinbeck, John

15. Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers
- Weinberg, Gabriel

16. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
- Newport, Cal

17. Starship Troopers
- Heinlein, Robert A.

18. No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late
- Halliday, Ayun

I was in a similar position 4 years ago, before my first startup.

On reflection, the books I got the most out of that actually shaped my behaviour are...

THE PERSONAL MBA, JOSH KAUFMAN

Was blown away by this. Couldn't believe how much stuff I didn't know about. It covers everything you've asked about and more...

It's also written a bit like a Software Patterns/Recipes book, which I love.

I've read the MBA book about 5 times.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Personal-MBA-World-Class-Business-Ed...

PITCH ANYTHING, OREN KLAFF

You'll hate reading it. It will make you cringe. It's uncomfortable.

But it changed my attitude to business, my products, and deals a LOT. Which is REALLY important.

Applying some of these techniques had amazing results in any dealings with 3rd parties (sales, partnerships, deals). That's because I'm a softie engineer, not a battle-hardened business man. I still read this before attending any significant meeting.

http://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Anything-Innovative-Presenting-P...

HOW TO BE THE LUCKIEST PERSON ALIVE, JAMES ALTUCHER

Covers everything in one way or another...

I keep coming back to the epic rule list in this book. I keep ignoring them in business, then learning the hard way that the list is right. He shares his failures and successes in a humerous way.

It's a real down-to-earth, eye opening book.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461120705

OTHER

I'm reading Lean Startup, and have read Made to Stick, Letting go of the words, Ignore Everybody, Spin Selling, and tons more. All good books, but the 3 above were the biggest impact for me on all levels.

In no particular order and probably not remembering all:

The signal and the noise - Nate Silver;

Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb;

Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb;

1984 - Orwell;

Man's search for meaning - Viktor Frankl;

Diplomacy - Henry Kissinger (not only international politics but also deep-thinking strategy that can be used anywhere);

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius;

Superforecasting - Philip Tetlock;

Propaganda - Edward Bernays;

Pitch anything - Oren Klaff;

Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond;

How to win friends and influence people& Stop worrying (both by Dale Carnegie);

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins;

Trust - Francis Fukuyama;

Why are so many of the commentators entirely missing the point of @drupeek's article? Folks - this isn't about screenshots, whether to blog or not, grammar, or market segments. I know Andrew, and he's really not in need of most of the advice being offered to him in this post.

His point is about pitching, breaking through the noise, and controlling the frame while you have ten minutes with an type-A personality. We all need to learn how to deal with this, and Andrew's making a valuable contribution. A lot of Andrew's advice reminds me of a book called Pitch Anything - I highly recommend you read it.

The book is mostly about two things: using stories to capture and excite the most basic parts of the basic human brain, and controlling the frame of a conversation in order to make sure your story is heard by an audience which is naturally hostile. I believe anyone who's pitching deals should take a look.

In conclusion, please stop patronizing Andrew, and contribute something meaningful to the conversation.