Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg argues, understand—some by intuition, some by hard-won experience—that there is a science to how human beings connect through words. They understand that whenever we speak, we're actually participating in three distinct conversations: What is this really about? How do we feel? And who are we? They know the importance of recognizing—&  then matching—each kind of conversation, & how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations & hidden beliefs that color & inform everything we say. Our pasts, our values, our affiliations—our identities—shape every discussion we have, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work.

With his trademark insight & clarity, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these three conversations—& teaches us the skills we need to navigate them more successfully. Communication, he argues, is a superpower. By bringing readers into jury deliberations & fraught CIA recruitments, into Netflix's company-wide conversations about equity & the writers' room of The Big Bang Theory, we learn why some people are able to make themselves heard—& to hear others—so clearly. We learn how to recognize & leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation. In the end, we learn a simple but powerful lesson: We can connect with anyone, as long as we understand how conversations work.