Right off the bat, there was something about this book that didn't sit right with me. The first big example is a CIA agent trying to recruit spies ("foreign assets"). This was followed not long after with a law and order example. That politic simply does not inspire me. The book was also somewhat problematic in other ways that took me right out of the book a few times although I can read the good intentions.

I kept listening because I could see the valuable nuggets in there. Interestingly there was some overlap with Fight Right (which I read recently.) I did take away a lot of really interesting information and I will go back to my digital copy to take some notes because I can see the power in some of the advice.

I've read a handful of very compelling non-fiction books in the last six months or so and while this ended up being okay, it not measure up in comparison. I felt an emotional disconnect from the purpose. But I'm glad I read it and will probably be thinking about some of these ideas for a while.

This is my first book I have read by Charles Duhigg, and I thought the premise was very interesting, especially in a time where people don't know how to communicate with each other, as we are constantly glued to our phones and the Internet. I particularly enjoyed the storytelling that Duhigg included in this novel, as he explained the various methods and suggestions for how to communicate more effectively. He used examples including a psychology professor, a jury's decision-making process, a doctor learning how to communicate better with his patients, and more.

Communication and connection are things that I think everyone could benefit from reading about. It is a constant work in progress, as detailed by Duhigg in this novel, and I appreciated the tools and techniques that he provided to us as the reader. Would definitely recommend to those interested in growing your skills to use in the workplace, and in your personal life.

Another note: this book cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

Supercommunicators was very engaging and easy to read. Charles Duhigg divides conversations into 3 categories:
1)What's this really about?
2)How do we feel?
3)Who are we?
He then describes 4 rules to become a supercommunicator - to pay attention to which type of conversation is happening, find out what others want from the conversation and their feelings towards it while sharing your motivations and desires, and find out what identities people are bringing to the table.

I did enjoy that the author was thorough in explaining his main 4 points, but I felt the summary after each section was unnecessary - I think instead if there had been the initial outline of his 4 rules and then the main summary at the end, that would have been sufficient. Some of the smaller summaries pulled me out of the flow of reading.

Overall I would give the book 3.5 stars. It was an interesting, easy read with lots of colourful stories. I enjoyed the variety of people (from spies to Netflix employees) and topics (vaccination concerns to the gun debate) that were discussed. I think a lot of the communication topics talked about are very relevant right now and may be helpful to the average layperson. I'm not sure how effective this book would be at facilitating some of those more delicate conversations, but I think it's a good introduction to people who are afraid of these types of conversations and want to learn more about how to start approaching them.