Phil in SF reviewed Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
Not awful overview of some techniques people use to communicate well
3 stars
Despite my critical comments, I think this is a largely positive book detailing some techniques of good communication. However, it's really not a how-to. The rough outline for each technique goes: anecdote about a communication breakdown, review of research about a technique, anecdote about someone who is good at it (a supercommunicator), and a cursory, hand-wavey things you might want to try section. The overviews/reviews of research are the best part. The how-to is too general to be of real use.
And to repeat my comments in the review itself, the author tends to glorify good communication itself, rather than as a means toward an end. That is readily apparent in the sections on communicating about race & identity, where the author never really identifies that racism, sexism and other issues related to identity are the real problem, not just that communication about them is fraught.
His information on communication …
Despite my critical comments, I think this is a largely positive book detailing some techniques of good communication. However, it's really not a how-to. The rough outline for each technique goes: anecdote about a communication breakdown, review of research about a technique, anecdote about someone who is good at it (a supercommunicator), and a cursory, hand-wavey things you might want to try section. The overviews/reviews of research are the best part. The how-to is too general to be of real use.
And to repeat my comments in the review itself, the author tends to glorify good communication itself, rather than as a means toward an end. That is readily apparent in the sections on communicating about race & identity, where the author never really identifies that racism, sexism and other issues related to identity are the real problem, not just that communication about them is fraught.
His information on communication itself seems pretty solid though, from the bits I checked.
