Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

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

We all know people who seem capable of connecting with almost anyone. They are the ones we love talking to, who we turn to for advice, who hear what we are trying to say and make us feel seen. What do they know about conversation that makes them so special?

Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg argues, understand that whenever we speak, we’re actually participating in one of Three Conversations: Practical (What is 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, meaningful connection becomes elusive.

Skilled communicators know the importance of recognizing—and then matching—each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and hidden beliefs that color and inform so much of what 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 and clarity, Duhigg shows readers how to recognize these Three Conversations—and teaches us an array of skills we need to navigate them more successfully. Communication is a superpower. By bringing readers into jury deliberations and fraught CIA recruitments, into Netflix’s company-wide conversations about equity and the writers’ room of The Big Bang Theory, we learn why some people are able to make themselves heard—and to hear others—so clearly. We learn how to identify and leverage the hidden layers and cues that lurk beneath every conversation. In the end, we learn a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone.