Supercommunicators Themes

Supercommunicators does not define communication simply as the transfer of information from one person to another. Rather, it indicates that true communication is a kind of cognitive adjustment in which conversation partners’ neurological and physical processes converge. Neuroscience has dubbed this adjustment in the direction of similarity neural entrainment. This convergence includes not only thinking alike (coming to share the same beliefs) but also feeling alike (empathy or feeling similar emotions) and acting alike…

Supercommunicators suggests that data and anecdotes are both necessary to communicate the truth. Data conveys the full picture as personal stories cannot, but personal stories make data convincing in a way that allows data’s conclusions to be communicated. The book makes this point explicitly by presenting psychological research that shows people often toggle between two types of logic when reasoning through a problem: a “logic of costs and benefits” that relies primarily on…

Supercommunicators argues that emotion motivates much of what people say and do, so if you want to truly communicate with someone, you need to “match” their emotions. However, “matching” someone’s emotions to facilitate communication is more complicated that just imitating what they are feeling. Mere imitation or mimicry, even empathetic mimicry, can impede communication sometimes. For example, if someone is feeling a hostile emotion like anger, getting angry in turn can make communication more volatile…

Supercommunicators describes identity as a double-edged sword when it comes to communication. On the one hand, people tend to like, trust, and think well of others with whom they share a group identity. If a person trying to communicate with others can find a group identity that all members of the conversation share—whether that group identity is broad (like a generational category) or small (like a sports fandom or a shared school)—then communication is more…