Face to Face

Eye contact is often the deciding factor when applying for a job, making a sales pitch or asking someone on a date.

As a child in grade school, Brian Grazer dreaded having a teacher call on him. Although undiagnosed at the time, he suffered from dyslexia, a reading disability. He would avoid eye contact with his teachers in hopes of staying off their radar. But his grandmother Sonia had great confidence in him. “Brian,” she would exclaim, “never stop asking those questions of yours.”

By high school, Grazer had figured out how to use his conversational abilities to connect with his teachers and classmates. He was better able to absorb information and process material verbally. He sought face-to-face interactions at college, and sharpened his skills in reading body language and facial expressions.

Grazer is an extremely successful television and movie producer. His first book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, delved into what he calls “curiosity conversations.” Grazer says these meaningful exchanges enable him to forge authentic connections. This ability, more than any other, he says, helped him...