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The Art of SpeedReading People

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The Art of SpeedReading People

How to Size People Up and Speak Their Language

Little, Brown US,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

Learn the basics of speed-reading people. Start with some evident traits, add a bit of analysis, and presto – you have your colleagues pegged.

Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Instead of speed-reading text, learn to “SpeedRead” personalities with the help of Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger. Their book ably explains Personality Type. With a little practice, you can quickly identify your own personality type and that of anyone you meet. If you are already familiar with the Myers-Briggs® model, much of this book will be old news. The authors go into great detail about the four temperaments and the 16 personality types that define them. If you aren’t familiar with the model, or if you want to learn how to speed-read people according to its theory, getAbstract recommends this book for a purposeful study. However, even if you only read it once, you will have much greater success reading and reaching all types of people.

Summary

Identifying Personality Types

“SpeedReading” people can help you determine others’ personality types. Savvy managers use their knowledge of personalities to motivate employees and to develop more effective work teams. Quickly assessing a colleague’s personality type is a form of “SpeedReading.” If you can efficiently speed-read others, you can talk to them on their own terms. Your ideas will get through to them more easily.

Each personality type is made up of four “dimensions:”

  • “Extravert” or “Introvert.”
  • “Sensor” or “Intuitive.”
  • “Thinker” or "Feeler.”
  • “Judger” or “Perceiver.”

Whether you know it or not, you naturally lean toward one trait in each pair. Try identifying your own personality type. If you can’t decide which description fits, pick the one that is probably closest to how you feel.

To help you determine which personality type you are, you should consider the following questions:

  1. Extravert or introvert – Decide what energizes you. Do you prefer being among large groups of people, or do you prefer being alone? If you enjoy company, you are probably an extravert. Introverts...

About the Authors

Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger are also the authors of Do What You Are, Nurture by Nature and Just Your Type. In the past 25 years, they have trained thousands of managers, counselors and teachers in the application of Personality Type.

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