How To Read A Room by Mike Bechtle

How to Read a Room by Mike Bechtle 

We have often found ourselves in a situation when we have entered a room, whether be it for a meeting, interview, gathering of people or any casual social setting, and we tend to become conscious of the environment and the setting leading to an inner introspection as to what should we do and how should we behave and what should we talk. Understanding a room is almost a new age skill in the current times and Mike Bechtle’s book “How To Read A Room” is an insightful take on the dynamics surrounding this over-looked aspect.

The book starts with a summarized understanding narrating the reasons as to why it is important for someone to have and develop the skill to read a room and navigate any situation. This section showcases the various situations one comes across that makes us uncertain and often figuring out the next course of action. This section also tells the reader about the four- point approach to use to read room namely; Observe the setting, engage with people, plan your approach and execute your strategy.

 Before detailing into the main content, the author dwells into the three essentials for developing the habit of reading a room namely; clarity in mindset, clarity about the process and clarity about others all around i.e. clarity in perspectives.

As we start deciphering the content, the author in the next section showcases in the detail about the above three essentials. When it comes to clarity in mindset, the author differentiates in between growth mind set and fixed mindset and narrates how growth mindset is essential to start on the path of learning to read a room. In this, the author also puts weight on the importance of being proactive. In case of developing clarity about the process, the book discusses the insightful take on the types of rooms and the types of people inside the room that one generally comes across. With respect to the aspect of clarity in perspectives, the readers are introduced to the impact of unconscious bias that people may generally develop before engaging with people. The importance of cross -cultural connections in the process is impactfully drawn out.

The next part of the book starts with the core content that showcases how to develop the skill of reading a room, first section deals with the first step that is Observing the setting and getting the big picture without even engaging or talking to anyone. In this section, we are introduced to the importance of becoming invisible to observe everything and everyone in the room or in the respective setting. The subsequent step in this part is to get the small picture that is concentrating on hearing what’s not spoken - the art of reading the body language of people in the room. Reading body language may include understanding facial expressions, deciphering key insights through hands and gestures and detailing through eyes.

The second section -engaging with people concentrates on two important aspects that is approaching people or approaching a group and subsequently conversing with anyone or any group. In the conversing section, the reader will get an insightful study on the big power of small talks and the two most powerful recourses in any conversation i.e. how active listening and go-deeper conversation helps one get comfortable with people and groups.

The third and the fourth section that primarily concentrates on customizing our approach and executing the strategy deals with working the room. Navigating differences within the room is the key aspect here to deal with as people with different temperaments will be present in the room.

A separate section has been dedicated to as How to lead a room that includes leading and influencing the room positively. One of the most interesting chapters is the one that concentrates on leading by influence in a virtual room that show cases the insights we all know but we often ignore. The section on meeting mechanics is very powerful and so much required in the current world. The other interesting chapter is the one that concentrates on leading by influence through written communication which effectively puts ten essentials for digital electronic communication.

The finale concentrates on the ultimate purpose of reading and leading a room that is serving a room or impacting a room and how to be a servant leader for creating impact among people. This section draws out as to why should ultimately strive to create impact and serve the room and how this will eventually help one grow not only professionally but also socially.

The book is fast paced with great insightful examples in some cases from the life of the author himself. With its unique subject that goes beyond the meaning of the title, the book is a real- world case study for engaging and connecting with people.

 In various sections of the book, the author has stated that he has gone through an array of books on the topic and has tried to bring out new research and new relevant aspects to this topic.

Readers may be recommended to read the book in a slow pace connecting and absorbing the content for productive reading.

“How to read a room” is insightful, simple, yet a key skill that many of us ignore.