12 Books of Winter: Day 3: February 4

Day 3: Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

In this recent New York Times bestseller, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Charles Duhigg examines the characteristics of "supercommunicators," the term he uses to refer to individuals who can connect easily with others and who understand and exhibit strategies of effective conversation. He argues that when we communicate, we engage in one of three types of conversation—practical, emotional, and social—and that the key to communicating effectively is having knowledge of the kind of conversation we are participating in. He suggests that "supercommunicators" have this awareness and that they understand the importance of matching the type of conversation to the context surrounding it. Connection, which Duhigg regards as one of the keys of effective communication, results when this matching occurs. 

Duhigg takes readers into courtrooms, company meetings—and even the writers' room of The Big Bang Theory—and uses these real-world situations to illustrate how some people possess the power of communication by understanding both how to hear others and how to make themselves heard. He teaches us how we too can become "supercommunicators" by offering practical strategies for recognizing and mapping the kind of conversation required to the context at hand. As bestselling author David Epstein observes in his review, “In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg goes through a mountain of research—and some riveting stories—and unearths practical tactics to show that anyone can become a more effective listener, speaker, and even social media poster.”