Written by Vanessa Van Edwards, a scientist in human behaviour, this book brings it all out. If you ever thought about improving your people skills or ever wanted to know where you need to stand in a room if you want to meet the right people at a party, this book is for you. I’ve been following Vanessa for many years on her extraordinary YouTube channel, but in this book, she went one step further. This book isn’t just about information, but a workshop-style approach to help you captivate people from day one. I can highly recommend this book: whatever level you are.
From the book:
Do you feel awkward at networking events? Do you wonder what your date thinks of you? Do you wish you could decode people? You need to learn the science of people.
As a human behaviour hacker, Vanessa Van Edwards created a research lab to study the hidden forces that drive us. And she’s cracked the code. In Captivate, she shares shortcuts, systems, and secrets for taking charge of your interactions at work, at home, and in any social situation. These aren’t the people skills you learned in school. This is the first comprehensive, science-backed, real-life manual on how to captivate anyone—and a completely new approach to building connections.
Just like knowing the formulas to use in a chemistry lab, or the right programming language to build an app, Captivate provides simple ways to solve people problems. You’ll learn, for example…
- How to work a room: Every party, networking event, and social situation has a predictable map. Discover the sweet spot for making the most connections.
- How to read faces: It’s easier than you think to speed-read facial expressions and uses them to predict people’s emotions.
- How to talk to anyone: Every conversation can be memorable—once you learn how certain words generate the pleasure hormone dopamine in listeners.
When you understand the laws of human behaviour, your influence, impact, and income will increase significantly. What’s more, you will improve your interpersonal intelligence, make a killer first impression, and build rapport quickly and authentically in any situation—negotiations, interviews, parties, and pitches. You’ll never interact the same way again.
By Vanessa Van Edwards, published 2017
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