How to Read People (and a Room) with Precision

I want to know what people think. And feel. I want to be able to read a room. And then use that to either make more money, create relationships, have more success, make business deals, etc.

So I found Euny Hong and invited her on the podcast. She is the author of “The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success.”

Here’s a list of everything we talk about in this episode:

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:38 | Imagine what life would be like if you couldn’t read a room. You’d be outcasted. But now imagine the opposite. You’re the best at reading a room and people and situations. That’s called “nunchi.” It’s a Korean phrase with a ton of benefits. I ask Euny to break them down for us.
• 7:02 | How to get your nunchi back (if you lost it)
• 10:10 | Learn from the greats. Hear how Steve Jobs and other business superstars use nunchi to run successful businesses
• 13:00 | You see nunchi all around you. You can observe it. Hear how.
• 15:45 | The first step to nunchi: when you walk into a room, be aware they’ve all been in the room longer than you
• 18:46 | Every office has its own culture. And if you don’t develop nunchi, you’ll misread it. And it could cost you. 
• 25:11 | Another first step to nunchi: abandon your prejudices 
• 26:44 | How to stop having cyclical arguments
• 29:33 | Why your intentions don’t matter at all
• 32:00 | We all think we’re more emotionally intelligent than the average person. But that’s false. It’s a cognitive bias. And it stops us from developing better nunchi. Hear how to break the cognitive bias. Or at least become aware of it.
• 34:51 | You already have the tools to develop nunchi. Euny explains how tapping into your five senses helps.
• 39:03 | You change a room every time you walk it. Sometimes we don’t notice it. (That’s a sign of bad nunchi).
• 41:16 | The power of silence
• 45:30 | Quick ways to practice nunchi
• 48:16 | When you should trust first impressions. And when you shouldn’t
• 53:20 | Outro

Links & Resources:

• “The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success” by Euny Hong
• Follow Euny on Twitter and Instagram
• Get updates on eunyhong.com

Quotes from this episode:

• “You can succeed without nunchi but only up to a point.” – Euny Hong
• “Nunchi is about finding the right time to strike.” – Euny Hong
• “You can’t force a person to do something differently so you have to do something differently. Even if you don’t think it’s your responsibility.” – Euny Hong
• “The magic is in knowing how to be quiet and pay attention to the writing on the wall.” – Euny Hong
• “If you’re watching a play, you don’t just focus on one or two people or else you’re losing context, so do the same thing when you enter a room.” – Euny Hong
• “You can observe without expecting immediate, dramatic results.” – Euny Hong