Supercommunicators

Hardcover, 320 pages

English language

Published 2024 by Diversified Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-86206-3
Goodreads:: 157981748-supercommunicators

(2 reviews)

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work, and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.

Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.

Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and …

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work, and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.

Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.

Communication is a superpower and the best communicators understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). If you don’t know what kind of conversation you’re having, you’re unlikely to connect.

Supercommunicators know the importance of recognizing—and then matching—each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and deeply held beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen. Our experiences, our values, our emotional lives—and how we see ourselves, and others—shape every discussion, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work. In this book, you will learn why some people are able to make themselves heard, and to hear others, so clearly.

With his storytelling that takes us from the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory to the couches of leading marriage counselors, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—and teaches us the tips and skills we need to navigate them more successfully.

In the end, he delivers a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone.

5 editions

Phil in SF reviewed Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

Not awful overview of some techniques people use to communicate well

3 stars

Despite my critical comments, I think this is a largely positive book detailing some techniques of good communication. However, it's really not a how-to. The rough outline for each technique goes: anecdote about a communication breakdown, review of research about a technique, anecdote about someone who is good at it (a supercommunicator), and a cursory, hand-wavey things you might want to try section. The overviews/reviews of research are the best part. The how-to is too general to be of real use.

And to repeat my comments in the review itself, the author tends to glorify good communication itself, rather than as a means toward an end. That is readily apparent in the sections on communicating about race & identity, where the author never really identifies that racism, sexism and other issues related to identity are the real problem, not just that communication about them is fraught.

His information on communication …

Despite my critical comments, I think this is a largely positive book detailing some techniques of good communication. However, it's really not a how-to. The rough outline for each technique goes: anecdote about a communication breakdown, review of research about a technique, anecdote about someone who is good at it (a supercommunicator), and a cursory, hand-wavey things you might want to try section. The overviews/reviews of research are the best part. The how-to is too general to be of real use.

And to repeat my comments in the review itself, the author tends to glorify good communication itself, rather than as a means toward an end. That is readily apparent in the sections on communicating about race & identity, where the author never really identifies that racism, sexism and other issues related to identity are the real problem, not just that communication about them is fraught.

His information on communication itself seems pretty solid though, from the bits I checked.

andbenn reviewed Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

A lot of research here about three conversation types

4 stars

This would not be a book I'd normally pick up. It was on a list from a well respected digeratti several months before it came out as they had reviewed it. I was first on my library list to reserve it then, and when it finally arrived for me, there were 60 other people waiting on the book. I had not read any of the author's previous work, but did recognize his name.

That said, I really liked this book. What can one learn about communicating from reading versus actual practice and coaching? Hard to say. He lays out a case here of three different conversation types, provides and integrates several stories he discovered in his research (surgeon, NASA, Netflix, doctors, etc) and discusses each.

I took several pages of notes for my future referrals. I did appreciate the book, and took special note of the chapter on difficult discussions …

This would not be a book I'd normally pick up. It was on a list from a well respected digeratti several months before it came out as they had reviewed it. I was first on my library list to reserve it then, and when it finally arrived for me, there were 60 other people waiting on the book. I had not read any of the author's previous work, but did recognize his name.

That said, I really liked this book. What can one learn about communicating from reading versus actual practice and coaching? Hard to say. He lays out a case here of three different conversation types, provides and integrates several stories he discovered in his research (surgeon, NASA, Netflix, doctors, etc) and discusses each.

I took several pages of notes for my future referrals. I did appreciate the book, and took special note of the chapter on difficult discussions which I thought was very well done (extra notes taken here). I do think a bit too much time was spent on his Netflix topic.

All in all, I really enjoyed it and learned a bunch. I'll use my notes to cement these ideas in coming months. Now I have to go practice on my family ...