Nate’s Notes 150: Pulitzer Prize Winner Charles Duhigg | How To Be a Supercommunicator

Thanks for listening to this episode of Meikles & Dimes with Charles Duhigg. What great insight and practical tips he shared.

One of the skills that Charles most wants to teach his kids is how to ask questions, and specifically deep questions that get at peoples’ values, beliefs, or experiences. Rather than ask someone, “Where do you practice law?” we can ask, “Did you always want to be an attorney?” And I love Nick Epley’s game of trying to get people to talk about their hopes and dreams within three questions.

It’s interesting that we often hesitate to ask deep questions, when in reality people love to answer deep questions. I’m going to test this in my class next semester, maybe on the first day of class, and have the students share with each other the last time they cried in front of someone. And I love the games Charles plays with his kids, to give them practice asking questions.

Finally, what a great takeaway about super communicators. They don’t have superpowers…they’re just a little more thoughtful about communication. They ask deep questions, they show people that they want to connect, and they’re aware of the different types of conversations such as practical, emotional or social conversations.

What simple, practical ideas. Please them seriously.

Charles Duhigg Bio:

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on New York Times bestseller lists. His second book, Smarter Faster Better, was a bestseller, as is his most recent book Supercommunicators.

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Charles has been a frequent contributor to This American Life, NPR, The Colbert Report, PBS’s NewsHour, and Frontline.

Charles currently writes for The New Yorker magazine.