Supercommunicator

Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand

By: Frank J. Pietrucha

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

In our increasingly complicated and data-driven world, many new developments are so complex that only experts comprehend their nuances. But what they don't grasp is how to tell the world about them. Communicating technical content to nontechnical listeners has fast become a critical 21st-century skill. Explaining what you do and why it's important drives funding, policy decisions, media exposure, public awareness, and customer adoption. This groundbreaking guide will help anyone to deliver clear, persuasive messages that win hearts, minds, and budgets. Supercommunicator explains how to:

• Distill details and data into big ideas
• Deliver meaning to audiences
• Use storytelling to captivate and educate
• Humanize content to make complicated ideas more tangible
• Layer harder ideas on top of easier ideas
• Strip away complex language, jargon, and acronyms
• Use analogies to explain unfamiliar areas; Master new digital modes of expression
• And more!

Enhanced with a wealth of examples - from how the National Academy of Sciences used audience research to improve the way evolution is taught, to how NASA incorporated cutting-edge tools to visualize issues in climatology - this one-of-a-kind audiobook reveals how to make the complex comprehensible, and the dry deeply compelling.

©2014 Frank J. Pietrucha (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC

about to start a masters in communication program

Would you listen to Supercommunicator again? Why?

already listened twice. and yes - ill listen to it again.

Any additional comments?

provides a great history of how things were done so you can get some insights into why people are still doing things they used to do. it also gives some ideas how we can maybe stop people from continuing to approach communications in that old fashioned out dated wrong way. The book is nice enough to explain things in a way that maybe everyone can understand

This is a must for professional communicators!

Where does Supercommunicator rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This one is on my top-ten books in the communication, business, self development areas. As a book it is excellent, as an audiobook I believe it could be better. I ended having the book and the audio together, some visual cues and "Text layout" really makes more sense to complete the audio experience.

What other book might you compare Supercommunicator to and why?

Show and Tell by Dam Roam. His book is mostly visual and seems to apply all the techniques explained in Supercommunicator. If you are in need of a practical guide, choose Show and Tell... if you want to understand the why, concepts and go deeper in the communication area of knowledge go for Frank's Supercommunicator book.

What about Sean Pratt’s performance did you like?

I really enjoy Sean Pratt's reading skills. When I notice a book is narrated by him, automatically adds points to my decision to buy.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Supercommunicator?

The foundation is really great: Know thy audience, Know thy subject, Simplify, Clarify... (Parts II, III and IV) awesome.

Any additional comments?

I already listen this twice and there are so many treasures inside that I ended buying the kindle version also. I am much better listening than reading, but sometimes the book design, some pictures and layout really enhance the comprehension of the concepts.

Painful pacing and out of date.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who love motivational posters might love this book, but they'll definitely get bored along the way. The author starts with a primer on "multimedia" - as if that would be necessary post the 1990s - and the level of repeated information is staggering.

Has Supercommunicator turned you off from other books in this genre?

Absolutely.

How could the performance have been better?

Performance accentuated poor pacing in the book. I'm not sure the reader connected well with the source material, but I can hardly blame him.

What character would you cut from Supercommunicator?

The author. His presentation gets in the way of the clear, concise message advertised by the book title.

Any additional comments?

I hate not finishing audiobooks and would like to thank the programmers of the Audible app for the ability to adjust playback speed..!