Charles Duhigg: Supercommunicators

Join us for an in-person event with New York Times bestselling author Charles Duhigg for the release of his new book Supercommunicators. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

Can’t make the event? Purchase a signed copy of Supercommunicators here. 

STRAND IN-PERSON EVENT COVID-19 POLICY:

Masks and vaccination checks are not required for entry.

Attendees are welcome to wear a mask if they choose. If you do not have a mask and would like one, The Strand will provide masks at the door.

Please note this is subject to change any time before or during the event per the author’s request.

ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator. Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by 2/7 to request.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact . 

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Who do you call when you are feeling down? Probably not your smartest or most outgoing friend, but rather, someone you know will always make you feel better, who’s easy to talk to, who helps you open up and really listen to yourself.

You probably call a supercommunicator. These are the people sought out for advice, promoted to leadership, who help everyone hear each other when it matters most. You probably have moments of supercommunication yourself.

Some people understand there are tools to help us become supercommunicators, to connect with nearly anyone. Some people know how to hear what is unsaid, and speak so everyone wants to listen.

And, luckily, these skills and tools - this supercommunication ability - can be learned.

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, New Yorker staff writer, and New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, shares how we can apply these tools to nearly every facet of our lives in his forthcoming book SUPERCOMMUNICATORS: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

Anyone can be a supercommunicator – we just need to understand how these tools work. At every life stage, we can get better at connecting with the people around us, transforming into managers who listen better and empathize rather than offer rapid-fire solutions, partners and spouses who disagree without lingering hurt, friends and parents who offer a safe harbor when the world is a storm. Through learning conversations, we can unlock a better life—for ourselves and others—and connect with the people who matter most.

Central to connecting with others is understanding that each conversation is actually three conversations: a practical dialogue, an emotional discussion, and a social exchange. You must know which kind of conversation is happening to connect: 

• Practical: The What’s This Really About? conversation helps us make choices, analyze plans, think about ideas and – most important – reveal what everyone wants to talk about, even when those goals or desires are unspoken.                                                                                                                                                           

• Emotional: The How Do We Feel? conversation allows us to share our emotions, beliefs, and experiences. Unless we know how to listen to others’ emotions, even if they are hard to hear, we can’t really bond with them.

• Social: The Who Are We? conversation occurs when we discuss our relationships, how we see ourselves and others, and our social identities.  When we gossip about office politics, or figure out the people we know in common, or explain how our religion or family background—or any other identity—impacts us, we’re connecting socially, which shapes how we speak and hear. 

Drawing on new scientific research, and weaving memorable stories of supercommunicators inside the CIA, a jury deliberating a man’s fate, The Big Bang Theory writers’ room, a surgeon’s office, the corporate halls of an emotionally fraught Netflix and more, Duhigg shows why communication is worth studying, understanding, and changing: Because, though we sometimes stumble, the right conversation, at the right time, can change everything.

Charles Duhigg is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker and was previously a reporter at the New York Times where he won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory reporting in 2013. A native of New Mexico, he studied history at Yale and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has appeared on This American Life, N.P.R., The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and Frontline. He lives in Santa Cruz, CA.

Photo Credit: Glenn Matsumura

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway, New York, United States