Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection

by Brian Grazer

New York Times bestselling author and iconic Hollywood producer Brian Grazer reveals a new secret to forge a happier and more successful life. Through his own personal stories, discover how eye contact—a power available to nearly everyone—can change your life too.

In his bestseller A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer helped everyone from parents to CEOs to artists to young graduates develop their curiosity into a superpower that would expand their world. Now, he reveals a new secret. Whether you’re looking to develop a relationship, build your confidence or win a negotiation: the answer is in the eyes. Grazer delves into the power of eye contact, as he shares personal, life-changing stories and insightful advice that will help you immediately discover the secret to a more meaningful life.

While it might seem like second nature, Grazer proves that eye contact—really looking someone in the eyes—is one of the most transformative habits you can develop in your daily life. Eye contact has the power to offer validation, show generosity, create intimacy, and—most importantly—establish genuine human connection. Even as technology takes on a bigger and bigger role in our lives, from self-driving cars to the smartphones in our pockets, no machine will ever be able to replace the unique and powerful benefits of eye contact.

As one of the most acclaimed Hollywood producers in the world, Grazer transports you into the moments from his life where eye contact proves to be the key to unlocking power, emotion, and insight. These are moments like a high-powered CEO conference with Bill Gates; a surprise date with supermodel Kate Moss; a tough conversation with Eminem when creating the movie 8 Mile; a tête-à-tête with George W. Bush; and encounters with personalities like Taraji Henson, Airbnb Founder Brian Chesky, and Chance The Rapper.

With his flair for telling intriguing stories, Grazer’s highly readable book will give you a powerful advantage across every aspect of your life. Read this book now, and learn how a happier and more meaningful life is just a blink away.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Business, Biography, Psychology, Memoir, Audiobook

198 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2019

About the author

Brian Grazer is the Academy Award-winning producer of A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Splash, Arrested Development, 24, 8 Mile, J. Edgar, Empire, and many more. His films and TV shows have been nominated for forty-three Academy Awards and 131 Emmys. In 2007, he was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Reviews

[Cory Reese · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this one. I kept waiting for some insight or a point to the stories, but eventually realized that this book is essentially a collection of stories from the author meeting with famous people who made good eye contact.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the stories a bit self-congratulatory. Not everyone has the luxury to fly off and meet people and to have these kinds of opportunities. As far as books go it does not have much depth.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book between 3.5 and 4 stars. Brian Grazer's first book "A Curious Mind" is about "what" could be learned from having conversations with people and being open minded. This book is about "how" to have engaging conversations -- look people in the eye, really listen, and give a good story or useful information in return. Again, not earth-shattering and some of the same stories from his first book are repeated in this book. But it's an easy read and if you didn't mind the first book, this one is okay too.

[Sara floerke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Endearing character, but it seemed like a list of name dropping and hollywood stardom. Great point about eye contact again and again, but the 1 hour interview with Dan Harris was more insightful than wading through this book

[Tom Cross · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful book. Just a collection of personal stories focused on how well certain people make eye contact. There is no content on many topics about relating to people on a personal level.

[Alexander Rivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this author's book "A Curious Mind" and was fascinated by how he conceived a philosophy and stuck to it. This book touches on an important aspect of his philosophy of having "a curious mind," which is connecting with the human your curious about. He retells a lot of the stories from "A Curious Mind" but with a more concentration on the connection, he created with that person he was curious about. To but labels on what he was practicing, I would say the author has high "emotional intelligence" and like Dales Carnegie's advice says to "talk in terms in other people's interests."

The book has a focus on communicating face to face, which in Brain's era seems like a must. I understand at times we tend to romanticize how things were done, especially if it brought great success but it seems like this digital era of communication is getting demonized. I am not saying that is what the author is trying to express or convince the reader of. I feel that having the awareness and capacity to implement different forms of communication is a skill that brings value to a person. There are times when face to face communication will be the most beneficial way to communicate and sometimes it won't.

After reading Susan Cain's book "Quiet" I know there are individuals who do not like face to face encounters and prefer email, video chats, phone chats, or other forms of communication that are not considered face to face. What I'm trying to say is that knowledge is power and after reading this book I am aware of how powerful face to face communication can be.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5? I expected it to explore and give an overview on human connection and face-to-face interactions in general with some personal stories and going into the book with such expectations (also due to the author and not by having just misled myself) was a serious let down. I'd like to assume that this book would be of more interest to the fans of the author who'd like to hear more about how many famous people he's connected with in an ~authentic~ way and how he's great friends with those famous people because they looked each other in the eye or something, but I think even as a memoir/autobiography this book is lacking. As it is, I didn't find what had been advertised in this book, the author came off annoying and full of himself and I just really really did not enjoy this book. I honestly do not even understand the point of it besides telling stories of how great and famous and entitled he is and how many famous people he knows. Good for him, I guess? And good for me for actually getting through this audiobook and being able to move on to hopefully something better.

[Akash Agrawall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Grazer spills out the importance of F2F conversations and how this has made a pivotal role in his life. This is a light read in self-help category. Rather than suggesting tons of lessons on how to get the art of human connection right, Brian shares his life experiences and how they led to his big hits.

Good for a night time read. Once read the concept really gets imprinted on your mind and you understand the importance of F2F conversations.

Reason for 3 stars:
+ Not a great book in terms of read to learn Gain.
+ Better to read the book summary rather.

Main Points touched in book
+ Importance of eye contact
+ Be curious always.
+ Intentional listening rather than thinking what to speak next.
+ Step out of comfort zone to talk to people.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The entire premise of this book was efficiently and effectively presented in the introduction. The rest of the book is a mere collection of personal experiences relayed in short story format by the author. Many of the stories, to me, sounded a lot like bragging and famous name dropping and rather turned me off the book. I did finish reading it though, just to make certain there weren't any other little nuggets of good advice tucked in between the stories. There wasn't. Everything to be learned can be learned in the introduction!

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 2 1/2. It wasn't terrible and had a few good points at the beginning. Beyond that, it was interesting if you like insider Hollywood tidbits and want to know about the stars and famous people that Brian's met.

[Mark Matheson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Surface-level and self-congratulatory insights keep this from being little more than a Hollywood producer’s vanity project.

[Brittany Barnes Deeg · Rating 1 out of 5]

More a memoir than a book about connection, I found the essays astonishing. However, my hope was to learn about how to better connect with others; this is where Grazer falls short other than to offer platitudes - eye contact, be present, be curious. Not a fan in that sense, but his stories were entertaining.

[Kelly J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a DNF for me. Basically it’s a long winded way to say make eye contact. I read half of it and that’s the whole message but done by telling a list of all the famous people he’s worked with in Hollywood. This book will be enjoyable to you if you like learning about celebrities, but it isn’t going to teach you much about human connection at all.

[Matthew Matherly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may not share the same opinion as others in regard to how they view the book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it from front to back as I read it all in one sitting without stopping and didn't find myself becoming disengaged or distracted from it at all. It was a delightful experience and a chance as Brian Grazer says in his book to widen my perspective of the world and how different cultures interact differently with one another. This was my first book I have read from him, so I cant speak on how repetitive it is in comparison to his other book, but I did read a few reviews to gather a little bit of perception before posting my own and do agree it has a lot of names dropped throughout the stories. Whether this is bragging or just to further emphasize his stories, I am not sure. I do think it helps us understand that they are all people and humans just like us though and we can connect with others all the same in our own way. While this may not be a book everyone will enjoy or have a positive impression of, it is that difference of opinions and perspectives that make the world such a beautiful place and I think we can all learn something from this book if we choose to look close enough.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the great opportunity to meet Brian Grazer and receive a copy of this book. He is a super nice guy, especially given how accomplished and well known he is.

The book is interesting and well told and gives good insight into his life and how he achieved his success.

For me, much of the lessons he is trying to impart are pretty obvious and basically the traits of someone who is a good conversationalist.

Bottom line: for those people with a high emotional quotient, there is not much to learn here. But for those who may be a bit more socially awkward, then you might pick up a few good tips.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped this book might actually be about how to make better human connections, but the takeaways are pretty succinct. I thought the introduction was the most insightful part (I listened to audiobook and the author reads the intro). It states things I had already suspected, that people who can't/don't make eye contact with you are unlikely to ever be good friends/people you can trust. As others have pointed out, it becomes very self-congratulatory and self-aggrandizing. The part about how me met his gorgeous wife and fell in love with her at first sight when she wandered into an exclusive Malibu restaurant looking smoking hot in a red dress? Gag.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author Brian Grazer gives us some insight (that we know already): People who work in the movies, and do very well in the movies, could be self indulging.

While the author's theme about effective communication, his book turns out to focus mostly on his accomplishments and the experiences he has had in making movies.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s ok. I mean it’s really just summed up in the introduction. It’s a simple read and when entering the subject of human connections maybe a good first read, however it’s not very good. It’s a series of stories that make Grazer look good. A few good things that strike my interest. Women’s rights, and political science, but not inspiring or a fun read, just an easy one.

[Raymond Janis IV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amidst some needless and overtly self-promotional anecdotes related to the author’s illustrious social circle—including the likes of Oprah, Prince, Bono and Mark Wahlberg—there can be found moments of sincere insight regarding the need for sustained eye contact and the lost art of human-to-human connection in the 21st century.

[Cindy Wargocki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it a 3 only because it made me want to learn more about the author. In general it was a collection of stories about connections he has made and sometimes where those connections then led. Is it the same for someone in another field that perhaps cannot help someone with specific connections? He has some good points and I appreciate the value of human connection.

[Alex J Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given the current lockdown situation, the practical learning from this book is very hard to implement. Some pieces are interesting, others are just another wealthy person telling others to "take more risks".

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of anecdotes and name dropping. It quickly got boring as nothing new was brought to light in subsequent anecdotes.

[Traci Koochin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book and was left highly disappointed. The entire book felt egotistical

[Daniel Verderese · Rating 1 out of 5]

A truly unenjoyable, uninteresting read from start to finish. Couldn't find even a glimmer of something to grab onto while reading and found myself hoping for the end. Would not recommend at all

[Mehmet Fatih · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-intended but contains a little bit too much name tagging.

[Kara of BookishBytes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed more of a vehicle for the author to share his personal stories than an attempt to help others.

[Andrew Tilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brags the entire time...has little to no thought jerking lessons

[Dmitri S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Как же хочется однажды найти автобиографию успешного человека, который честно напишет, что добился всего благодаря совокупности удачи, тяжелого труда, компромиссов и наследованного капитала. Потому что пока попадаются исключительно уникумы, которые сводят весь многофакторный массив обстоятельств к одному единственному событию, которое (сюрприз-сюрприз) одновременно подчеркивает как уникальность, так и заурядность личности автора. Дескать, ты, дорогой читатель, тоже можешь войти в топ «Форбса», просто для этого нужно: мыслить позитивно / всегда говорить «да» / бросить университет / заниматься микро-дозингом (нужное подчеркнуть). А стартовый капитал и связи это ерунда, дело наживное.

Брайан Грейзер, например, адепт прямого взора в глаза собеседнику. Да, да, двести страниц о том, что для достижения успеха надо смотреть людям в глаза. И к большой удаче читателя этот текст заканчивается быстрее, чем успеваешь понять, что это единственный посыл всей книги.

А книга ценна хотя бы тем, как редко попадаются автобиографии, которые меняют мнение об авторе в худшую сторону. Также можно отметить пару-тройку действительно забавных историй, которые особенно хорошо смотрятся на фоне самозабвенной аутофелляции автора. Настолько самозабвенной, что хочется поскорее оставить Брайана наедине со своим гением.

[Bill Zoelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

The value to people of a book of this type is to provide insights based on uncommonly acute observations that allow readers to benefit through the application of those insights. This book is not that.

I was starting to get drawn in to the book very early. The author shared what seemed to be a painful personal struggle with dyslexia. As the book moved on to examples of how another person overcame their limitations, he mentions how he caught on to surfing easily since he is a “natural born learner” or something like that. I’m confused. Now I’m wondering if those early struggles really happened or if he is just not tuned in to how going from a struggling child to a name-dropping overtly confident adult creates an incongruence which impedes trust.

Is the author really just a self-absorbed guy who took the advice of a business partner to get off his phone and pay attention to people in meetings? Was the way in which people responded to being shown respect so shocking and profound that when experienced by a person of high self-importance and means translated into, “I’m a genius! I’ve just uncovered the secret to personal connection and must write a book about it!”

Or equally plausible, I’m an asshole whose cynical outlook perceives insights like those in this book as trivial because my own arrogance keeps me from benefiting from these valuable observations.

Whichever you chose, I hope you find more value in this book than I did.