You could be communicating better.

The Next Big Idea Daily newsletter (SUBSCRIBE) is written by me, Michael Kovnat , and gathers insights from today’s leading non-fiction authors. It’s a companion to our Next Big Idea Daily podcast, available on Apple or Spotify .

You're going to be hearing a lot about Charles Duhigg from us this week.

It's not (just) because he had a new book come out last week, which has already become a bestseller. Or because our curator Adam Grant calls that book "riveting" and "revealing." It's also because Rufus Griscom had him as a guest on The Next Big Idea podcast this week, and he shared some of the big ideas from the book on my Next Big Idea Daily show.

And Charles has been a friend of the Next Big Idea Club for years. We recorded an e-course with him sharing big ideas from his 2012 mega-hit The Power of Habit, and we had him onstage at the Soho House in New York to talk about his followup bestseller Smarter Faster Better .

But with his latest, Charles really hit a nerve for me.

See, I've been into communication for a long time. I don't (just) mean that I enjoy the art of conversation, and that I've worked professionally in journalism and media for decades. I also mean I think a lot about how to communicate better, how to be a more attentive listener, and a more connected speaker. A while back, I got into Marshall Rosenberg's nonviolent communication method, and over the years I've deployed it -- with mixed results -- with colleagues and friends, not to mention my wife and daughter.

So, as a communication nerd, I was excited to see that Charles had trained his journalistic eye on the art and science of connection, which I would argue is a skill most of us undervalue. And even though I've thought about this stuff for a long time, Charles provided insights that were fresh to me, like the importance of understanding what type of conversation you're having, and getting clarity on the other person's needs ("Do you want to be helped, heard, or hugged?")

Hear Charles' tips for being a supercommunicator:

We heard a lot of other big ideas this week as well, including:

• Why you should think like a geek , from MIT's Andrew McAfee .
• How you can protect your sanity in the face of social media madness, from psychologist Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D., LCSW-R .
• Why human bondage remains a present-day problem in America, from critic Deborah G. Plant.
• How to live a life without regrets , from ad executive Bonnie Wan .

I hope these idea add value to your life, and I hope you'll join me on this journey of becoming a better communicator. Because, believe it or not, learning to have better conversations might just our surest path to creating a happier, safer, more peaceful world.

By the way, if you're interested in having these and thousands of other big ideas right in your pocket, download the Next Big Idea app .