Supercommunication Expert: Ask These Questions To Make People Open Up and Connect With Anyone. A Convo With Charles Duhigg

March 16, 2026·58 min·5 clips

A Pulitzer-winning journalist thought he was a great communicator until his team management exposed a critical blind spot.

Omar starts with a gut check. He thought he was a solid communicator, then Charles Duhigg's Super Communicators made him question that across business, life, and the way he moves through conversations. That is the hook. Duhigg's answer is practical: ask better questions, then actually listen to what comes back. Super communicators ask a lot of them. He says they ask 10 to 20 times more questions than the average person, and those questions pull people into a real exchange instead of leaving everyone trading polite facts. Some questions are light invitations. A quick prompt about a movie or an opinion can keep things moving without making the room feel heavy. Deep questions do more. They get into values, beliefs, or lived experience, which gives the other person room to say what matters. The doctor example makes the point cleanly. Instead of asking what hospital someone works at, ask what made them decide to become a doctor in the first place. That small turn changes the answer. Now they are not listing facts; they are letting you see the story behind the choice. The business lesson comes through fast. When someone says they cannot afford something, Duhigg's first move is to ask how they judge value. He suggests asking what makes a large product or investment feel right, because that gets you closer to the thinking behind the objection. Trust and attention build from there. Even if the person is not convinced yet, they are more likely to listen because you listened first. Omar closes by pushing listeners to take one piece of the conversation and use it, instead of letting it become another good idea that sits there.

As heard by us

A practical interview that makes better questions feel like a real business skill.

Charles Duhigg's appearance makes communication feel less like charisma and more like a practice of asking the right questions so people show what matters to them.

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Why you'd press play

When you need a better way to ask, listen, and understand what really matters.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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