Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

​​ What makes a great conversation?

“Many of us dread small talk,” says Harvard Business School professor and author Alison Wood Brooks. Yet she believes these everyday exchanges are the gateway to deeper connection and opportunity. An expert in the science of conversation, Wood Brooks, teaches a popular course titled Talk and has spent years researching what makes a great conversation. "Big things often start with small talk," she notes. "It’s not about avoiding it; it’s about knowing how to use it to uncover something meaningful."
In this LinkedIn Live episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Wood Brooks joins host Matt Abrahams to share a practical framework for mastering small talk and making it enjoyable, even for those who loathe it. Drawing from her "topic pyramid" approach, Wood Brooks breaks down how to elevate a conversation from mundane chitchat to something memorable. “Think of it as a treasure hunt,” she suggests. “Small talk is where you start looking for golden nuggets that can lead to deeper engagement.”

Episode Reference Links:

• Alison Wood Brooks 
• Alison's Book: Talk
• Ep.73 Listen Up: Why It’s Better to Be Interested than Interesting 
• Ep.89 Listen, Listen, Listen: How to Build Deep Connections 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:58) - What Makes a Good Conversation?
• (04:17) - The Topic Pyramid
• (06:58) - Preparation for Small Talk
• (09:14) - Remembering Conversation Details
• (10:52) - Asking Too Many Questions
• (12:45) - Conversation Goals and Contexts
• (16:39) - Virtual vs In-Person Conversations
• (18:28) - The Importance of Listening
• (22:22) - Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• (23:40) - Conclusion

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Introducing our new Premium membership, designed to enhance communication and career skills with expanded content and tools. Enjoy early access to live events, AMAs (Ask Matt Anything), eQuips—Essential Quick Insight Playlists—Extended Deep Thinks episodes, and the AI Chat Matt tool.

The focus is on building a global community where members can connect, share insights, and receive feedback. A portion of membership fees will support charities dedicated to developing communication skills worldwide.

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Make your message memorable.

“Immediately forgettable” — that’s how Matthew Dicks describes most of the business communication that he encounters. If you want to be remembered, he says, it’s time to tell stories.

A veteran elementary school teacher, storytelling coach, and best-selling author, Dicks knows how the right narrative can transform mundane messages into stories that stick. In his book, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling, he explores how to capture and hold an audience’s attention, which is particularly critical for business leaders. "When we tell a story about a product or service, the people we work with, our company, we become memorable and interesting and entertaining in a way that doesn't happen very often in business," he says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Dicks and host Matt Abrahams discuss practical techniques for crafting compelling narratives, from setting a scene to creating suspense. “Don’t build a building. Don’t buy a machine,” he says. Becoming a better storyteller is one of the most effective ways to level up. “It’s a crazy thing for businesses,” he says.

Episode Reference Links:

• Matthew Dicks
• Matthew’s Book: Storyworthy 
• Ep.50 Telling Good Stories: How to Use the Elements of Narrative to Keep Listeners Engaged
• Ep.47 Quick Thinks: How to Use Storytelling to Be a Better Founder  

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:26) - Why Storytelling Matters in Business
• (03:02) - The Essence of a Good Story
• (05:03) - Become a Better Storyteller
• (06:43) - Using Suspense in Stories
• (08:49) - Suspense in Business Communication
• (10:51) - Structuring Stories Like Scenes
• (13:00) - Relating Stories to Life
• (15:27) - Homework for Life
• (18:07) - Storytelling Delivery
• (19:14) - The Final Three Questions
• (23:19) - Conclusion

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Beyond the Big Screen.

Every business meeting, product launch, or marketing communication has something in common with your favorite movie: they all succeed or fail based on their ability to make you feel something. Just ask Jeff Small, CEO of Amblin Partners.

"Good stories win," says Small, who leads one of the world's most renowned independent film and television companies alongside Steven Spielberg. As both a business leader and storytelling expert, Small knows that successful communication is built on person-to-person connection through the power of story. "Whatever walk of life you're in, you have to be able to tell a story to connect with people, to get across the message that you're trying to get across."

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Small joins host Matt Abrahams to share insights from his experience at the intersection of creativity and commerce, unpacking how effective storytelling can transform your communication, whether leading teams through industry disruption, resolving conflicts at work and at home, or creating films to inspire audiences for generations to come.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jeff Small
• Ep.153 Listen Up, Leaders: A Record-Setting Coach’s Guide to Communication
• Ep.35 Leading From The Hot Seat: How To Communicate Under Pressure

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:50) - What Makes a Good Story?
• (02:43) - Bringing Emotion into Communication
• (03:19) - Storytelling Across Professions
• (05:23) - Crafting an Effective Story
• (07:09) - Uniqueness in Storytelling
• (08:12) - Balancing Creativity and Business
• (09:41) - Managing Conflict with Connection
• (11:30) - Screen Time and Family
• (13:10) - Navigating Industry Change
• (15:30) - The Final Three Questions
• (21:55) - Conclusion

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Why practice is the key to success.

If there’s anyone who knows about performing under pressure, it’s former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck. Whether playing in front of thousands or presenting to ten, his key to success is practice.

"There's a romantic notion that you rise to the occasion," says Luck, a Stanford graduate and four-time Pro Bowl selection. "But I think you settle to the level of your training. We practiced those high-pressure situations all the time.” From calling critical game-winning plays to navigating communication off the field, our performance in high-stakes situations, Luck maintains, is determined by our level of preparation.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Luck and host Matt Abrahams explore how deliberate practice can help us hone our performance across all domains of our lives.  From managing high-pressure situations to building psychological safety in homes and workplaces, Luck shares insights gained from both sides of the field — as a player and now as a coach.

Episode Reference Links:

• Andrew Luck
• Ep.153 Listen Up, Leaders: A Record-Setting Coach’s Guide to Communication 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:46) - Communication in High-Stress Situations
• (03:56) - Staying Calm Under Pressure
• (06:26) - Earning Leadership Through Respect
• (07:49) - Overcoming Conflict Aversion
• (08:56) - Decision to Retire from the NFL
• (11:03) - Returning to Education
• (12:41) - Life Lessons Through Coaching
• (15:02) - The Final Three Questions
• (18:10) - Conclusion

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Create more meaningful communication by defining your audience.
 
Before you even think about communicating a message, defining a brand, or developing a strategy, Seth Godin says you have to ask these questions: “Who’s it for? What’s it for? And what’s the change [you] seek to make?”

As a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and marketing expert, Godin understands that effective communication rests on purpose and intent. “Branding is not logoing,” he says, but a “promise” that an individual or company makes about who they are and what others can expect of them. By intentionally defining who we are and who our audience is, Godin argues we can create more meaningful connections and drive real change.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Godin and host Matt Abrahams explore how we can be more deliberate in our communication, using storytelling, clarity of messaging, and defining the impact we want to make on our audience and the world.

Episode Reference Links:

• Seth Godin
• Seth’s Books: This Is Strategy / This Is Marketing
• Ep.64 Best of: Techniques for Managing Your Reputation
• Ep.118 Maximizing your Personal Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:28) - Defining Branding and Marketing
• (03:09) - The Role of Status in Podcast Growth
• (05:18) - Storytelling as a Powerful Tool
• (06:58) - The Smallest Viable Audience
• (08:31) - Clarity in Messaging
• (10:48) - Strategy Defined
• (14:11) - Developing Effective Strategies
• (16:47) - The Final Three Questions
• (20:54) - Conclusion

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The inner workings of social influence and persuasion.

Want to change someone’s mind? First, explains Robert Cialdini, you have to change their framing.

For Cialdini, the Regent's Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, persuasion begins before we even deliver our pitch or presentation. Through what he calls “Pre-suasion,” communicators can prime audiences to receive messages in a specific way, simply by drawing their attention in specific directions. 

“It involves focusing people on—putting them in mind of—those motivators before they encounter [them] in the communicator’s message,” Cialdini says, “bringing people’s focus of attention onto something that is nested in the message…before that message is delivered, so they have been readied for the concept.”

In this episode, Matt Abrahams and Cialdini talk about the motivating power of FOMO, getting better advice from others, and how your next wine purchase could be influenced by what music is playing in the shop.

Episode Reference Links:

• Robert Cialdini
• Robert's books: Influence / Pre-Suasion
• Ep.11 The Science of Influence: How to Persuade Others And Hold Their Attention
• Ep.142 Power and Persuasion: Live Insights from Stanford Experts 
• Original Episode: Ep.76 Change My Mind: Using “Pre-suasion” to Influence Others 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:33) - Persuasion and Pre-suasion
• (05:54) - Priming and Framing in Pre-suasion
• (08:35) - Understanding Scarcity
• (11:25) - The Unity Principle
• (14:41) - Social Proof and Influence
• (20:01) - The Role of Language in Persuasion
• (23:00) - The Final Three Questions
• (27:26) - Conclusion

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How acceptance and authenticity can transform all of our interactions.

What’s the key to experiencing deeper connection in our communication? According to Alan Alda, it starts with acceptance — of others and ourselves.

"Connecting, communicating, and clarity," Alda explains, "they're all based on hearing what the other person is really saying; letting the person be real; accepting them.” As an acclaimed actor, writer, director, and author of If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?, Alda has spent much of his career exploring how acceptance enables us to be our authentic selves, leading to better communication and truer connection. “There’s nothing more engaging than the real you,” he says.

Also the founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, Alda strives to help scientists and health professionals communicate more effectively with the public. “Science can't do its work unless it gets funded. And it can't get funded if people don't understand what the scientists are trying to do,” he says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Alda and host Matt Abrahams discuss how acceptance and authenticity can transform all of our interactions, from complicated science conversations to everyday communication.

Episode Reference Links:

• Alan Alda
• Alan’s Book: If I Understood You, Would I have This Look on My Face? 
• Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science 
• Ep.82 It’s Not About You: Why Effective Communicators Put Others First 
• Ep.114 Communication Means Paying Attention: The Four Pillars of Active Listening 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:36) - Motivation for Communication
• (03:36) - Avoiding Communication Pitfalls
• (05:52) - The Role of Clarity and Vividness
• (06:59) - Reflection in Communication
• (07:49) - Connection in Conversations
• (09:04) - Reframing Communication Anxiety
• (10:44) - Asking Meaningful Questions
• (11:39) - Matt’s Communication Journey
• (13:26) - The Art of Storytelling
• (15:53) - The Final Three Questions
• (18:00) - Conclusion

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Being present in the moment and staying open to whatever unfolds.

We all want to lead lives and careers full of joy and fulfillment. Maggie Baird certainly has, and the key, she says, is to stay open to new possibilities and “let your passion lead.”

Baird is an accomplished actress, improv teacher at the Groundlings Theater, mother to music sensations Billie Eilish and Phineas, and founder of Support and Feed, a nonprofit addressing food equity and the climate crisis. Through it all, she has embodied the improv principle of "Yes, and..." — being present in the moment and staying open to whatever unfolds. “I have done many things,” she says, “but I never approached any of them as a career change. They all came out of new interests and new experiences.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Baird joins host Matt Abrahams to explore the critical role of communication in developing a career, and how improv principles can help us engage, as Baird says, “From a place of open-heartedness, appreciation, [and] collaboration.”

Episode Reference Links:

• Support And Feed
• Ep.118 Maximizing your Personal Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want
• Ep.1 Speaking Without a Net: How to Master Impromptu Communication
• Ep.9 Quick Think: How Being Present-Oriented Improves Communication 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:30) - Career Transitions
• (02:22) - Teaching and Confidence Through Improv
• (04:40) - Improv as a Communication Tool
• (06:22) - Structure and Freedom in Improv
• (08:14) - Teaching with Empathy
• (11:11) - Advocacy in the Music Industry
• (13:55) - Collaboration and Positive Change
• (16:44) - The Final Three Questions
• (18:23) - Conclusion

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Gain control over your speaking and excel in your communication.

For the first anniversary of his book Think Faster, Talk Smarter, Matt Abrahams shares strategies from the first chapter, focusing on managing speaking anxiety and improving spontaneous communication. Through personal anecdotes and practical techniques, he explains how to handle unexpected questions, reframe anxiety as excitement, and use mindfulness and breathing exercises to stay calm under pressure. The episode also offers tips for managing physical symptoms of anxiety and staying mentally focused during high-stakes situations

Audio excerpt courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio from THINK FASTER, TALK SMARTER by Matt Abrahams, read by the author. Copyright 2023 by Matthew Abrahams LLC. Used with permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Reference Links:

• Link to buy book in your country: Think Faster, Talk Smarter 
• Ep.48 Speaking Up Without Freaking Out: How to Tackle Communication Anxiety 

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:14) - The Onion Interview
• (02:56) - Speaking Up Without Freaking Out
• (05:24) - The ABCs of Speaking Anxiety
• (06:38) - Mindfulness Matters
• (08:56) - Reframe Anxiety as Excitement
• (10:20) - Cooling Down and Managing Physical Symptoms
• (14:09) - Taming Negative Thoughts
• (15:20) - The Power of Repetition
• (15:58) - Preparing Questions
• (18:23) - Rationalizing the Odds
• (19:26) - Conclusion

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Know your audience and tailor the message for them.

In high-stakes communication, every word counts. For Jen Psaki, that means knowing who she’s talking to — so she knows just what to say.

As the former White House Press Secretary and current host of Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC, Psaki has discovered that communication isn’t about “saying the most words or saying them the loudest,” but about knowing your audience well enough to tailor the message just for them. “You need to think about how you're going to get your audience to listen to you,” she says. “The goal of communicating is to crack the door open so somebody wants to hear more.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Psaki and host Matt Abrahams explore her approach to strategic communication: identifying your audience and using what you know to engage with them and get them to engage with you.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jen Psaki 
• Jen’s Book: Say More
• Ep.22 Under Pressure How to Communicate Clearly and Timely During Crisis
• Ep.155 Can We Be Candid? How to Communicate Clearly and Directly

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:44) - Principles of Communication
• (02:45) - Skills for Effective Listening
• (03:28) - Engagement and Lowering Barriers
• (04:27) - Tailoring Communication
• (05:51) - Preparation and Practice for Confidence
• (07:44) - The Value of Feedback
• (10:47) - Handling Difficult Questions
• (13:15) - High-Stakes Negotiation
• (16:07) - The Final Three Questions
• (20:25) - Conclusion

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Why organizational strategy can be both top-down and bottom-up.

As Professor Jesper Sørensen sees it, a winning strategy is the result of conversations, not commands, and that strategy can be directed from the C-suite, but it doesn’t have to be. “Lots of great strategies are discovered,” he says, “they’re discovered because the leaders were able to listen to their frontline workers or their frontline managers.” A more iterative approach, says Sørensen, helps companies adapt their strategy to an ever-changing landscape.
In the latest episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Sørensen joins host and lecturer Matt Abrahams to discuss how organizations can use better communication to craft better strategies.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jesper B. Sørensen
• Sørensen’s Book: Making Great Strategy
• Original Episode: Ep.71 Strategy Success: How to Communicate Your Gameplan
• Ep.103 Simple is a Superpower: How to Communicate Any Idea to Any Audience
• Ep.41 Speak Like a Founder: How Successful Entrepreneurs Communicate to Their Teams

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:15) - Defining Strategy
• (03:58) - Common Misconceptions about Strategy
• (05:44) - The Concept of a Strategy Argument
• (07:41) - Strategy as a Communication Tool
• (11:30) - The Dynamic Nature of Strategy
• (13:06) - Storytelling in Strategy Communication
• (15:32) - Propagating Strategy Through Storytelling
• (17:38) - The Final Three Questions
• (24:16) - Conclusion

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What it takes to develop as a leader.

Great leaders and great communicators aren't born, they're made. That's why John Hennessy and Tina Seelig, directors of Stanford University’s Knight-Hennessy Scholars, are working to create the great storytellers of tomorrow, today.

"We decided that there was a leadership void, and that was a driving motivation to do this," says Hennessy, former Stanford president and current Alphabet chairman. The program, which he co-founded in 2016 with Stanford alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, equips scholars with essential leadership skills through hands-on experience and collaborative problem-solving.

Seelig, executive director of the program, emphasizes that great leadership centers on effective storytelling. "No matter how compelling your invention, your idea, the thing you want to do in the world, if you can't communicate it in [an] effective way, nobody's going to listen," she says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Hennessy, Seelig, and host Matt Abrahams explore what it takes to develop as a leader, discussing the role of communication, the power of empathy, and the centrality of storytelling.

Episode Reference Links:

• John L Hennessy 
• Tina Seelig 
• Knight-Hennessy Scholars
• Leading Matters Podcast
• Ep.155 Can We Be Candid? How to Communicate Clearly and Directly
• Ep.35 Leading From the Hot Seat: Hot to Communicate Under Pressure

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:44) - The Core of Knight-Hennessy Scholars
• (02:32) - Knight-Hennessy Scholars Leadership Model
• (04:11) - Empathy and Humility in Leadership
• (06:37) - Storytelling in Leadership
• (07:59) - Challenges in Storytelling
• (09:33) - Diversity in Leadership
• (11:57) - Feedback in Leadership Development
• (13:07) - Aspiring to Big Ideas in Leadership
• (13:53) - The Leading Matters Podcast
• (15:47) - The Final Three Questions
• (19:08) - Conclusion

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“Acts of trust are the bedrock on which relationships are formed.”

There’s a lot in the world to make us cynical about other people and their motives and intentions. But by “trusting loudly,” Professor Jamil Zaki believes we can renew our faith in one another.
Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford, director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience lab, and author of several books, including his most recent, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. While many people feel suspicious of others and are reluctant to trust them, Zaki finds that relying on other people is a necessary part of forming relationships.

“Acts of trust are the bedrock on which relationships are formed,” Zaki says. “The only way that strangers become friends and friends become best friends, the only way that we can build partnerships is through a willingness to count on one another.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Zaki joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss practical strategies for fostering trust and challenging our cynical assumptions, offering a hopeful perspective on human nature, backed by surprising scientific insights.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jamil Zaki
• Jamil’s Lab: Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab 
• Jamil’s Book: Hope for Cynics
• Ep.84 Quick Thinks: How Others Define Us
• Ep. 129 Connect Deeply: How to Communicate So People Feel Seen and Heard

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:40) - Defining Trust and Its Importance
• (02:31) - Building Better Trust
• (04:01) - Understanding Cynicism
• (06:24) - The Cynicism Spectrum
• (08:44) - Fostering Hopeful Skepticism
• (10:57) - Challenges of Overcoming Cynicism
• (15:47) - Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
• (18:08) - The Final Three Questions
• (25:13) - Conclusion

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Artificial intelligence can now do a lot of things. But if you’re worried about it taking your place as a communicator, Russ Altman says you need to question why you’re communicating in the first place.

Altman is a professor of bioengineering, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and host of Stanford Engineering’s podcast, The Future of Everything. According to him, advancing technology isn’t a threat to human creativity and connection, but a tool we can use to raise our own standards for communication.

“If you're worried that a ChatGPT-type tool can replace you, you need to [ask]: Why am I communicating? What am I trying to say? Do I have a message?” he says. “If those things are true, it shouldn't be a problem. It should actually amplify and improve your message.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Altman and host Matt Abrahams explore how effective communication can help us envision, articulate, and navigate towards our desired future, in our relationships, in our work, and in society.

Episode Reference Links:

• Russ Altman
• The Future of Everything Podcast | Stanford University School of Engineering 
• Ep.109 Simplify! How to Communicate Complex Ideas Simply and Effectively
• Ep.3 When Knowing Too Much Can Hurt Your Communication: How to Make Complex Ideas Accessible

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

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As a designer, Scott Doorley is interested in how humans create the world around them. It’s a conversation, he says, that starts with the question: What kind of world do we want?

Doorley is the creative director of the Stanford d.school and co-author of the book, Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future. In designing everything from a device to an app to a building, “People get excited about what it can do,” he says, “but what should it do? What do we want? What's the desirable outcome that we want in the world?”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Doorley and host Matt Abrahams discuss how applying design thinking to communication can help us connect more with each other, better understand the world, and create meaningful change.

Episode Reference Links:

• Scott Doorley 
• Stanford d.school 
• Scott’s Book: Assembling Tomorrow
• Ep.61 Courage, Belonging, Ambiguity and Data: How to Design Your Communication for Success
• Ep.70 Ideas Fuel Innovation: Why Your First Ideas Aren’t Always the Best

Connect:

• Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium
• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
• Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
• Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTube
• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

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Navigators know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. In charting a course through communication, Susan Rice says the best route is often the most direct.

Throughout her career at the forefront of American diplomacy and foreign policy, Rice has been no stranger to high-stakes situations that hinge on clear and candid communication. As she says, “I'm very direct. I don't believe in playing games, going around people, and being passive-aggressive. I shoot straight.” 

Rice graduated from Stanford University in 1986 and served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013 and the National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017. She is currently the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Visiting Fellow. Rice is the author of Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For.

But beyond being direct herself, Rice knows the value of allowing others to be direct with her. “If you give it, you got to be able to take it,” she says. “I've benefited at various stages of my career from colleagues who've been kind enough to give me the hard truths or the tough love to enable me to be better and help me to recognize where I'm falling short.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Rice and host Matt Abrahams discuss how to foster personal and professional relationships where candidness can thrive — even when communicating with those we don’t agree with.

Episode Reference Links:

• Susan E. Rice
• Susan’s Book: Tough Love
• Ep.35 Leading from the Hot Seat: How to Communicate Under Pressure

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"In a leadership role, so much more of communication is about connecting with people, establishing shared humanity, motivating them, inspiring them, sometimes challenging them." 

On August 1, 2024, Jonathan D. Levin, the tenth dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business, was appointed the President of Stanford University. In this Think Fast, Talk Smart episode from 2022, Levin reflects on the importance of communication as a leader. There is a balance, he says, in being direct with your dialogue, while also "leaving space for people to form their own opinions, to discuss ideas, to debate."

Episode Reference Links:

• Jonathan Levin
• Original Episode: Ep.68 Directive vs. Dialogue: Communicating Better as a Leader

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Tara VanDerveer has more wins than any other coach in NCAA basketball history. But as she says, motivating and leading teams isn’t about barking orders. Communication, she says, “It starts, number one, with listening.”

For VanDerveer, leadership isn’t about a power dynamic, but a collaboration between her and her team. “I can't do it by myself and they can't do it by themselves. But as a team, we can,” she says. From seeking opinions from her assistant coaches to connecting with players about life outside the gym, VanDerveer recognizes that championships are won through communication. “The relationships that you have with your players, the communication that you have with them, will determine your success as a coach,” she says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, VanDerveer and host Matt Abrahams explore more communication insights from on and off the court — being clear and concise, giving praise and positive feedback, and letting go of perfectionism.

Episode Reference Links:

• Tara VanDerveer
• Ep.102 Create Presence: How to Communicate in a Way Others Can Feel
• Ep.35 Leading From The Hot Seat: How To Communicate Under Pressure

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“Anything is fixable,” say Frances Frei and Anne Morriss. As cohosts of the Fixable podcast, they’re typically the ones doing the fixing, but on this special episode, they turn to Matt Abrahams for tips on what to do when communication breaks down.

Both Frei and her wife Morriss are public speakers; the former, a professor at Harvard Business School, the latter, a CEO and best-selling author. As they discuss with Matt Abrahams, perfectionism and self-doubt can often creep in, both during preparation before speaking and after the fact. According to Matt, effective communication is about “connection, not perfection.” Instead of putting pressure on ourselves to “get it right,” Matt encourages us to shift our focus from ourselves to those we’re speaking to. “Whenever you're communicating, you're in service of the audience you're communicating to,” he says. “It's not about you, it's about them and what you can do for them.”

In this podcast episode, Frei, Morriss, and Matt explore frameworks and strategies for speaking more spontaneously, building confidence, managing anxiety, and course-correcting when communication goes awry.

Episode Reference Links:

• Fixable Podcast
• Anne Morriss
• Frances Frei

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Whether winning over a hiring manager or winning new business, career success often hinges on how we communicate. That’s why Andrew Seaman is on a mission to help people find the words that work — to get work.

Seaman is the senior managing editor for jobs and career development at LinkedIn, and as the creator and host of the Get Hired podcast and newsletter, he helps millions hone communication skills to land the jobs they want. According to him, getting opportunities isn’t just about experience or connections, but how we frame and present our personal and professional narratives. With a standard resume, he says, “You're making them connect the dots. And people are not good at that.” Instead, he recommends crafting a story that explains where you’ve been, where you are, and where you hope to go. “Connect the dots for them,” he says, “so they're not viewing you as a person who has bounced around. They're thinking, this person has had a cohesive career.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Seaman and host Matt Abrahams explore tools for navigating the interview process, networking on and offline, and communication strategies to get hired.

Episode Reference Links:

• Andrew Seaman
• Andrew’s Podcast: Get Hired
• Ep.118 Maximizing Your Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want 
• Ep.147 Disrupt Yourself: How to Innovate Who You Are and Become Who You Can Be
• Ep.62 Best Of: Summer Learning Series, How Humor Can Be a Secret Weapon in Communication

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Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:34) - Importance of Online Presence
• (02:29) - Posting on LinkedIn
• (04:18) - Commenting vs. Posting
• (05:49) - Interview Presence
• (07:36) - Recovering from Bad Impressions
• (08:25) - Interviewing from the Interviewer's Perspective
• (11:02) - Challenging Interview Questions
• (12:21) - Best Practices for Interviewees
• (14:35) - Handling Spontaneity in Interviews
• (17:54) - Following Up After Interviews
• (20:20) - Broader Career Advice
• (22:51) - The Final Three Questions
• (26:08) - Conclusion

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Sometimes, what’s communicated to us can have a big impact on how we communicate to others. This episode explores some of the best communication advice — from experts and Think Fast, Talk Smart listeners around the world.

As teachers of Strategic Communication, lecturers Shawon Jackson and Matt Abrahams have plenty of advice on how to be a better communicator. But in this 150th episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the two don’t just discuss the communication strategies they share with students in their class, they also feature communication advice from listeners of the podcast.

Covering topics like knowing your audience, using transitions to tie together different ideas, and embracing the power of silence, Jackson and Abrahams unpack good advice for good communication in this celebratory episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart.

Episode Reference Links:

• Shawon Jackson 
• Shawon’s Educational Program: Vocal Justice

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“What people regret over time are things they didn’t do. They didn’t take that trip, they didn’t ask that person out on a date. They didn’t start that business,” says former political speechwriter and author Dan Pink. “I think it’s because we are slightly over-indexed on risk. We overstate the risk in many circumstances.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams sits down with Pink to hear how we can take more risks and how leaders can inspire others by focusing on the why instead of the how. “There’s almost incontrovertible evidence that a sense of purpose is the most cost-effective performance enhancer that organizations have,” Pink says.

Episode Reference Links:

• Dan Pink
• Dan's Book: The Power of Regret, Drive
• Original Episode: Ep.92 No Regrets: How to Take Risks in Your Communication, Relationships, and Career
• Ep.103 Simple Is a Superpower: How to Communicate Any Idea to Any Audience
• Ep.80 Magic Words: Change What You Say to Inspire and Influence Others

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In our personal and professional lives, some conversations are harder than others. To navigate the difficulties of discussing what matters most, Professor Irv Grousbeck says we need the right balance of conviction and compassion.

At both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford School of Medicine, Grousbeck teaches courses on managing difficult conversations. He equips students with skills to be direct while being respectful, to be strong while being warm, and to resist any urge to beat around the bush. "Directness, with respect, is essential,” he says. "So many of our students feel that if you're direct with someone, somehow that's harsh. The art of good conversation management, I think, does involve directness and respect at the same time."

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Grousbeck and host Matt Abrahams explore practical tips and strategies for navigating difficult conversations, from the importance of listening and pausing, to the value of rehearsing your words in advance.

Episode Reference Links:

• Irv Grousbeck
• Irv’s Book: New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur 
• Center for Entrepreneurial Studies | Stanford Graduate School of Business

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Innovation and disruption aren’t just for organizations. According to Whitney Johnson, we can find new possibilities for personal and professional growth — by disrupting ourselves.

As an executive coach, author, and podcaster, Johnson teaches people how to level up their lives and careers through the power of personal disruption. Her book, Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work, reveals how shaking things up enables us to break free of the constraints we might not even know we’re imposing on ourselves. “Personal disruption [is] a process of deliberate self-innovation; a decision to step back from who you are to slingshot into who you can be,” she explains.

In this Think Fast, Talk Smart episode with host Matt Abrahams, Johnson offers strategies for tailoring messages to different audiences, reveals the key ingredients for successful communication, and explains how disrupting yourself can open new doors and help you reach your full potential.

Episode Reference Links:

• Whitney Johnson
• Whitney’s Book: Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work
• Whitney’s Podcast: Disrupt Yourself Podcast 
• Ep.118 Maximizing Your Personal Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want
• Ep.138 Speak Your Truth: Why Authenticity Leads to Better Communication

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Stress can get in the way of our communication with others. To manage our stress, psychologist Jenny Taitz says, we first need to adjust the conversations that we have with ourselves.

Taitz is an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of several books, including Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes. According to her, much of the stress we experience is self-created through negative thought patterns and harsh self-criticism. “We're doing this to ourselves all the time,” she says. But as we become aware of these unhelpful mental loops, Taitz’ “resets” can help us disrupt them and reframe self-talk in more productive ways

In addition to changing our self-talk, Taitz offers tools for refreshing our communication with others. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, she and host Matt Abrahams explore her G.I.V.E. framework — how being gentle, interested, validating, and easy-mannered equips us for more positive conversations with ourselves and others

Episode Reference Links:

• Jenny Taitz
• Jenny’s Book: Stress Resets 
• Ep.69 Feeling Nervous? How Anxiety Can Fuel Better Communication
• Ep.122 How To Be More Confident and Calm in Your Communication: Managing the "ABC’s" of Communication Anxiety 

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Whether we realize it or not, we negotiate everyday. But when we approach these situations as a win-or-lose battle, we’re already showing resistance, and setting ourselves up for difficulty. But what if you reframed the whole idea, to think of a negotiation not as a fight, but as a problem-solving exercise involving emotions?

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Matt Abrahams speaks with Stanford GSB Professor Emeritus Margaret Neale about what she has learned in her decades of researching negotiation and the steps that lead to more collaborative problem-solving. 

Listen as Neale shares tips on how to approach negotiations with intention, and what strategies can help us more easily communicate our wants and needs. She is the coauthor of Getting (More of) What You Want: How the Secrets of Economics and Psychology Can Help You Negotiate Anything, in Business and in Life.

Episode Reference Links:

• Margaret Ann Neale 
• Margaret's Book: Getting (More of) What You Want
• Original Episode: Ep.15 The Art of Negotiation: How to Get More of What You Want

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Many of us would rank getting along with colleagues as an important aspect of work, but, as Amy Gallo explains, relationships devoid of disagreement can actually be less productive. 

“While our natural human instinct is to avoid conflict, I believe that conflicts are not only an inevitable part of interacting with other humans, but they're a necessary part.”

Gallo is a workplace expert, host of HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and the author of Getting Along: How to Work With Anyone. Across her work, Gallo touts that the key to transforming conflicts into something productive is to understand its root cause and learn how to reframe them. 

“Even at the base of those unhealthy conflicts or those unproductive conflicts is something that needs to be resolved,” she says. 

In her conversation with host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams, Gallo provides useful frameworks and new concepts on how we can approach conflicts at work.  

Episode Reference Links:

• Amy Gallo
• Amy Gallo’s Book: Getting Along: How to Work With Anyone
• Amy Gallo’s Podcast: Women at Work
• Ep.132 Lean Into Failure: How to Make Mistakes That Work

Connect:

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In choosing who to date, what job to pursue, or how to invest our money, most people are just looking for a reason to move forward. But according to Professor Ilya Strebulaev, we should be looking for something else: a reason to bail.

"The smartest venture capitalists ask a very different question from what most of us ask," says Strebulaev. Instead of asking “‘Why should we invest?’, venture capitalists approach every new opportunity with [the] question: Why should we not proceed?” This contrarian mindset is at the heart of Strebulaev's new book The Venture Mindset, which reveals how the strategies of top VCs can help anyone make sharper decisions. 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Strebulaev joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how the venture mindset can help anyone — investor or not — weigh alternatives, make decisions, and move forward without looking back.

Episode Reference Links:

• Ilya Strebulaev
• Ilya’s Book: The Venture Mindset 
• Ep.41 Speak Like a Founder: How Successful Entrepreneurs Communicate to Their Teams
• Ep.56 Lean Messaging: How Simple Messages Really Stick

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A special live edition from the Me2We event at Stanford, where strategic communications expert and podcast host Matt Abrahams joins four distinguished faculty members from Stanford Graduate School of Business:

• Michelle Gelfand explores the dynamics of cross-cultural organizational behavior.
• Brian Lowery discusses the societal implications of racial perceptions.
• Deborah Gruenfeld reveals insights into power dynamics and personal presence.
• Zakary Tormala delves into the nuances of persuasive language.

Episode Reference Links:

• Michelle Gelfand’s Book: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World 
• Michelle Gelfand's Tight-Loose Quiz
• Brian Lowery’s Book: Selfless: The Social Creation of "You" 
• Deborah Gruenfeld’s Book: Acting With Power: Why We Are More Powerful Than We Believe 
• Ep.67 What is Normal? How Culture Affects Communication Styles
• Ep.84 Quick Thinks: How Others Define Us
• Ep.11 The Science of Influence: How to Persuade Others and Hold Their Attention
• Ep.12 It’s Not What You Say It’s How You Say It: How to Communicate Power 

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So you want to lead your team toward innovation. Does that require that you know where you’re going? Not according to Linda Hill.

Hill is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School whose research focuses on leadership and how organizations achieve innovation. When it comes to generating breakthrough ideas, Hill says it’s less about a creative vision and more about stepping into the unknown. “Innovation [is] not about an individual coming up with a new idea,” she says. “Instead, innovation is the result of the collaboration of people with diverse expertise and diverse perspectives coming together, being able to collaborate, being able to experiment together and learn.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Hill and host Matt Abrahams discuss how leaders can foster cultures and environments where innovation thrives — where teams use communication and collaboration to “co-create the future.”

Episode Reference Links:

• Linda Hill
• Linda's books: Collective Genius / Being the Boss / Becoming a Manager

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Preparing to speak in front of a skeptical audience is more than thinking about objections beforehand – there are specific techniques you can use to respond to these challenging situations without sounding defensive, evasive, or dismissive. Here, we offer a few key tips for how to handle skepticism with aplomb.

In this episode, host Matt Abrahams and Stanford GSB lecturer Burt Alper share how to prepare for these challenges from your audience and discuss the importance of tactics like acknowledging audience input, reframing responses, and how to remain cool, collected, and credible.

Episode Reference Links:

• Burt Alper
• Ep.102 Create a Presence: How to Communicate in a Way Others Can Feel
• Ep.70 Keep ’Em Coming: Why Your First Ideas Aren’t Always the Best
• Original Episode: Ep.5 From Monologue to Dialogue: How to Handle a Skeptical Audience

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Whether you're looking to boost your productivity, find more joy in your work, or simply be more present in the moment, you need flow — and research by Assistant Professor David Melnikoff could help you find it.

Melnikoff investigates how we pursue our goals, and how flow — the state of being totally immersed and engaged in what we’re doing — can help us achieve them. According to him, flow isn’t necessarily about enjoying a task or activity for its own sake, but more about the process of discovery that unfolds as we take action in the face of uncertainty. “The source of flow is engaging in an activity that allows you to reduce uncertainty about your future, engaging in actions that reduce possible future outcomes, or ideally, eliminate all possible future outcomes except for one,” he says. With each action that we take, the path before us narrows, leading us more directly to the goal that we’ve set.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Melnikoff shares why uncertainty presents us with the opportunity to step into the flow state, to experience more focus and engagement, and to supercharge our goal pursuit and performance

Episode Reference Links:

• David Melnikoff
•  Ep.59 From Dreaming to Doing: How We Set and Achieve Goals
•  Ep.104 How to Change: Building Better Habits and Behaviors (And Getting Out of Your Own Way

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From the way you communicate, to the way build your life and career, Graham Weaver, MBA ’99, says it’s about “giving yourself permission to fully be yourself. You can never go wrong when you’re saying your truth.”

Weaver is a lecturer in management, a GSB alum, and the founder and a partner of Alpine Investors. He stresses the importance of direct communication, highlighting how avoiding it can lead to wasted time, energy, and even financial losses. Reflecting on his own experiences in private equity, Weaver admits to struggling with being conflict-averse and not speaking his truth directly, which resulted in getting into bad deals and big losses for his company. “People think that by being indirect, they’re being kind, but all they're doing is creating confusion,” he says. “Clarity is compassionate. Even if it's not what they want to hear, the more direct and clear you can be, the more compassionate that is for the other person.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Weaver and host Matt Abrahams explore how being true to oneself not only fosters personal fulfillment but also enables us to show up better for others. Authenticity and self-belief lay the foundation for effective communication, leadership, and ultimately, success.

Episode Reference Links:

• Graham Weaver
• Last Lecture Series: How to Live an Asymmetric Life
• Ep.82 It’s Not About You: Why Effective Communicators Put Others First
• Ep.118 Maximizing Your Personal Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want

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If communication is like painting, words are the primary colors. But to convey deeper meaning, we need a broader color palette, which Dana Carney says requires the mastery of nonverbal communication.

We often focus on the words that we say when honing our communication, but according to Carney, there are many instances “where nonverbals start to be more meaningful than verbals.” A professor at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the George Quist Chair in Business Ethics, Carney researches the nonverbal ways in which we communicate our biases, our preferences, our power, and our status.

As Carney explores in her forthcoming book, The Five Nonverbal Rules of Power, there are several key areas of nonverbal behavior that we need to grasp in order to fully tap our potential as communicators. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, she and host Matt Abrahams discuss how to read the nonverbal communication of others — and how to gain control of the nonverbals we express to the world.

Episode Reference Links:

• Dana Carney
• Ep.12 It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It: How to Communicate Power
• Ep.16 How to Craft Your Body Language When Confronting Objections 

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Disagreement and conflict may look the same on the surface, but the two concepts are, in fact, very different. According to Julia Minson, knowing how these notions differ is crucial to how you approach them. 

In this episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, Minson and strategic communication lecturer Matt Abrahams delve into the intricacies of conflict and disagreement. Minson, an associate professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Stanford University alumna, also shares her expertise on decision-making and conflict negotiation. Minson emphasizes the need for genuine curiosity and receptiveness in communication to foster productive dialogue.

Episode Reference Links:

• Julia Minson
• Ep.30 Dissolve Disagreements: How Communication Impacts Conflict 
• Ep.72 Quick Thinks: Talk it Out - How to Successfully Negotiate and Resolve Conflict

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How are you feeling right now? According to Celine Teoh, we all need to ask ourselves that question more often — and be more precise in how we answer it.

Teoh is a facilitator of the course Interpersonal Dynamics, one of Stanford Graduate School of Business’s most iconic classes. In her work with students and as a CEO coach, Teoh encourages people to get better acquainted with their feelings. “Feelings are data,” she says. “In the rest of our logical lives, we would never make decisions on bad or highly abstract data. But we’ll do that with feelings.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Teoh and host Matt Abrahams discuss how developing greater emotional awareness can help us achieve more agency and empathy in our personal and professional lives.

Episode Reference Links:

• Celine Teoh
• Ep.93 All the Feels: The Personal and Professional Power of Emotional Awareness

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Join Matt Abrahams with creativity and innovation experts Jeremy Utley and Kian Gohar to explore the transformative potential of AI in the realms of creativity and problem-solving. 

If you treat artificial intelligence like an oracle, you’ll likely be disappointed. But if you treat it like a teammate, Utley and Gohar say you’ll be surprised just how helpful a collaborator it can be.

Utley, an adjunct professor at the Stanford d.school, and Gohar, a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and futurist, have researched how teams can integrate AI into existing workflows to generate more creative ideas and streamline problem-solving. As they’ve found, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can be powerful tools for innovation. But without knowing how to implement them, “Most teams leave the vast majority of their innovation potential on the table,” Utley says. In a new white paper, he and Gohar illuminate the path teams can take to use generative AI as a “conversation partner” and transform their brainstorming efforts as a result.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Utley and Gohar discuss how innovators can stop viewing AI as a magic 8-ball, and start treating it as a companion — one ready to roll up its sleeves and dig deep for new ideas.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jeremy Utley
• Jeremy's book: Ideaflow
• Kian Gohar
• Kian's book: Competing In The New World Of Work
• Ep.70 Ideas Fuel Innovation: Why Your First Ideas Aren’t Always the Best
• Ep.77 Quick Thinks: AI Has Entered the Chat

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Across more than 130 episodes, Think Fast, Talk Smart has touched a lot on what it takes to be a good communicator. But what about reaching that next level? What about being a “supercommunicator”? Supercommunicator is a term used by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Charles Duhigg in his latest book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. 

In this podcast episode, Abrahams and Duhigg explore the precise techniques that distinguish a good communicator from a “supercommunicator:” traits such as active listening; looping for understanding to demonstrate genuine engagement; and identifying what someone is truly feeling, underneath what they actually say.

Episode Reference Links:

• Charles Duhigg
• Charles Duhigg's Book: Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
• Ep.92 No Regrets: How to Take Risks
• Ep.82 It’s Not About You: Why Effective Communicators Put Others First
• Ep.103 Simple is a Superpower: How to Communicate Any Idea to an Audience

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Effective and productive teams and relationships are based on the ability to communicate safely and to fail successfully. In this episode, Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, shares profound insights on the different types of failure—basic, complex, and intelligent—and their implications for learning and innovation. 

In her conversation with host and Strategic Communications lecturer Matt Abrahams, Edmonson opens up about her struggles with failure, highlighting the importance of moving from rumination to reflection. This episode offers listeners a comprehensive guide to fostering an environment where failure is not feared but embraced as a crucial step toward growth and success.

Episode Reference Links:

• Amy Edmondson
• Amy’s Books: The Fearless Organization & Right Kind of Wrong 
• Ep.21 Words Matter: How to Make Your Communication Inclusive
• Ep.112 From Mistakes to "Missed Takes"

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Friction — that’s Professor Huggy Rao’s metaphor for the forces that hamper workplace efficiency. But as he says, some friction can be helpful — if you know how to use it.

In his book, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, Rao and coauthor Robert I. Sutton explore how operational obstacles show up in the workplace and, more importantly, what we can do about them. Through what Rao calls “friction fixing,” leaders can “take out the bad friction to make the right things easy to do [and] put in good friction to make the wrong things harder [to do].”

As Rao discusses with host Matt Abrahams on this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, leaders can eliminate bad friction through good communication. “Communication matters a lot,” he says. “The simple rule is, make sure a 10-year-old can understand it on the first try.”

Episode Reference Links:

• Huggy Rao
• Huggy’s Book: The Friction Project
• Ep.14 Be Better at Work: How to Communicate Better with Coworkers and Employees

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“Simple language, forceful language, vivid language, and keeping it simple and direct,” says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, are all powerful tools to strengthen your communication.

Host and Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Matt Abrahams interviews Pfeffer, the author many books, including Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't, about the verbal and nonverbal ways we can harness, or give away, our authority when we’re speaking to others. Pfeffer is also the host of the podcast Pfeffer on Power and teaches the Stanford GSB online course Discover the Paths to Power. 

Episode Reference Links:

• Jeffrey Pfeffer's podcast: Pfeffer on Power
• Jeffrey Pfeffer's books: Dying for a Paycheck & Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't
• Ep.12 It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It: How To Communicate Power
• Ep.44 Act Like a Leader: How Lessons From The Theater Can Help You Step into Power

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All too often, we communicate without really connecting. The key to building deep connections with others, says David Brooks, is to make them feel seen and heard.

Brooks is a writer for the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the best-selling author of several books. In his latest, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, he explores how vulnerability — both being vulnerable ourselves and creating space for others to be as well — is the key to fostering deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives. “[People] need to be seen, heard, and understood,” he says. “If you hide yourself from the emotional intimacies of life, you're hiding yourself from life itself.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Brooks and host Matt Abrahams discuss the fundamentals of communicating with vulnerability and empathy, outlining the skills that anyone can learn and use to connect more deeply in their relationships.

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Join Matt Abrahams engaging with his international audience and answering questions that touch upon some of today's most pressing communication challenges. Matt offers advice on everything from the nuances of crafting clear, impactful questions and navigating emotional dynamics in group settings to maintaining control during presentations and delivering difficult news.

Additionally, listeners are treated to innovative strategies for creating memorable introductions and managing disruptive behaviors in group discussions. This episode, taken from a Think Fast Talk Smart live event, offers practical tips and strategies; its a value add for anyone looking to enhance their communication skills in personal and professional contexts.

Episode Reference Links:

• Ep.67 What Is Normal? How Culture Affects Communication Styles
• Ep.105 Radical Candor: The Communication Shift That Can Transform Your Career 
• Ep.78 Three Guiding Principles for Successful Communication 

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Matt takes live questions from his worldwide audience and shares a lesson around concision, relevance, accessibly, and precision in messaging. In this "masterclass," he emphasizes the communicator's role as a translator who simplifies complex information for diverse audiences.

Key takeaways include the careful use of analogies, considering cultural backgrounds and audience understanding, and providing techniques for chunking information into understandable segments. Additionally, the episode delves into the significance of structuring communication to achieve specific goals, highlighting Matt’s structure 'What? So What? Now What?. This episode is packed with practical advice and strategies for anyone looking to enhance their communication skills, whether in professional or personal contexts.

Be sure to tune in to Part 2, the “Ask Me Anything” portion of this recorded event.

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If we want to generate better ideas, then we need to get people back to the office.

In this bonus meetings mini-series episode, we feature an episode from the newest podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business – If/Then: Business, Leadership, Society. In this conversation with senior editor Kevin Cool, Professor of Marketing and former TFTS guest Jonathan Levav details his study of remote work and creativity. “Pairs that worked face-to-face generated 15 to 20% more ideas than pairs that worked on Zoom,” Levav notes. What’s more, in-person brainstorming helped people consider a wider and more diverse range of possibilities. “Working on Zoom was a double penalty. Fewer ideas — and a narrower set of ideas.”

Remote work may be the new normal in our post-pandemic world, but Levav cautions us from accepting the status quo — especially if we want to keep our creative edge. As this episode of If/Then explores, our best ideas could still lie ahead of us — if we can all get in the same room.

If/Then is a podcast from the Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society. Each episode features an interview with a Stanford GSB faculty member.   

Key Takeaways: 

• For hybrid work environments, managers should select “in-office” days based on tasks we perform better in person, such as collaboration and brainstorming.
• More flexible schedules for remote and office work allow employees to bring their best selves and perform better at their jobs.  

Be sure to also listen to Part 1 and 2 of our Making Meeting Matter mini-series.

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Whether you’re giving a toast or presenting in a meeting, communication is critical to success in business and in life. Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he sits down with experts in the field to discuss real-world communication challenges.

How do I send my message clearly when put on the spot? How do I give better feedback? How can I easily convey complex information? How do I manage my reputation? How do I manage my anxiety in any speaking situation?  

Think Fast, Talk Smart provides the tools, techniques, and best practices to help you communicate more effectively.

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How can we make meetings more effective? How can we keep people engaged and interested? Whether it’s in person or on Zoom, here are a few techniques you can use to make your gatherings more meaningful, productive, and memorable.

Get practical tools and actionable insights to actually make meetings matter, as well as knowing when NOT to have a meeting. Join Matt Abrahams in a dynamic conversation with Elise Keith, an expert on effective meetings and communication. Elise explains the three main categories of meetings, and shares practical strategies for engaging participants, handling common meeting issues and maximizing productivity through techniques like parallel processing as well as other tools.

Be sure to also listen to Part 1 of our meeting mini-series, as well as the following bonus Meeting's episode from the Stanford GSB's If/Then podcast.

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Delve into why people hate meetings, explore what hinders their effectiveness, and how to change that. Karin Reed (Emmy Award winner) and Joe Allen (“The Meeting Doctor”) join Matt Abrahams in the first of a two-part series that aims to reshape your approach to meetings and help you make them effective and meaningful, whether in person, virtual or hybrid. 

They shed light on the constraints hindering effective meetings, and explore strategies for optimizing meetings, emphasizing the importance of right-sizing meetings and focusing on realistic agendas. Karin provides valuable tips for enhancing on-air presence, focusing on aspects like eye contact, lighting, and framing, while Joe tackles the challenges of managing disruptive behaviors in virtual meetings. Don't miss this insightful exploration into the world of how to make meetings better.

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The information you receive is only as strong as the questions you ask.

This week we revisit Matt's discussion with Debra Schifrin about how to craft inquiries that can lead to better communication outcomes. Questions are also instrumental in building relationships, Schifrin points out. “If you’re asking questions, you’re signaling to the other person that you value them. You’re taking time to listen to their answers.”

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Research-backed techniques on how to beat nervousness in the moment. 

In this episode, Matt uses clips from experts from previous Think Fast Talk Smart episodes to provide you with several communication anxiety management techniques to help you feel more comfortable and confident when you communicate. And as a guide to help us learn these techniques, he introduces the ABCs of anxiety management.

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We have to be vulnerable in order to build trust in our relationships. But as Jacob Morgan says, “Vulnerability for leaders is not the same as it is for everybody else.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Morgan shares with host Matt Abrahams his “vulnerable leadership equation” and how leaders can use it to transform the way they interact with others — creating more trust, unlocking people’s potential, and building successful teams and organizations.

As Morgan explains, owning up to your mistakes and struggles might make you vulnerable, but it doesn’t necessarily make you a leader. In his latest book, Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization, Morgan lays out why leading with vulnerability goes a step further, saying, “Here's what I learned from the mistake that I made [and] steps that I'm going to put into place to make sure this doesn't happen again.”

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Matt reflects on all the advice we've heard this season and shares the top 10 takeaways that he’s applying to his own communication:

Episode Reference Links:

Jonah Berger: episode 80

Rachel Greenwald: episode 89

Dan Pink: episode 92

Vanessa Patrick: episode 95

Carmine Gallo: episode 103

Katy Milkman: episode 104

Kim Scott: episode 105

Francis Frei: episode 109

Patrick McGinnis: episode 113

Julian Treasure: episode 114

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“Stress is natural,” says Alia Crum, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford. “Stress is inevitable when you’re living a life that’s connected with things you care about. And learning how to embrace it, learning how to work with it is really what helps us thrive and grow and perform at our highest level.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams talks with Crum about her work as the principal investigator at the Stanford Mind & Body Lab, where she is studying how people can benefit from stress. “There’s a whole side of stress that shows that it can have enhancing qualities on our cognitive functioning, our physical health, and on how we behave and interact with others,” she says.

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What comes to people’s minds when they think about you, and can you control it? Dorie Clark says you can — with the power of your personal brand.

According to Clark, “You have brand equity in your own life.” Your personal brand or reputation, she says, “makes things either easier or harder for you” as you pursue your personal and professional goals. The key question, she says, is “What kind of reputation have you built up?” By taking stock of the personal brand you have, you can redefine it to align with who you are and where you want to go.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Clark and host Matt Abrahams discuss the power of personal branding, being more strategic in how we communicate about ourselves, and how we can shape the narrative of our lives, personally and professionally.

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Communication is about so much more than sharing words. As neuroscientist Shane O’Mara explains, communication is about sharing reality.

According to O’Mara, “A conversation is where we create a shared reality together.” As a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin, his research has focused on how human brains sync up through communication. “The essence is that we are creating a shared reality where we come to share the same states of emotion, the same states of memory, and we come to think about the future together in a new way.”

On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, O’Mara joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how language, memory, and imagination play into communication, and how we can use active listening, turn-taking, and mentalizing to create a shared reality together.

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Even if you don’t think you’re a natural, anyone can become proficient at the art of small talk by utilizing the right tactics and behaviors. In this collaboration with Harvard Business Review, strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams shares his tips and techniques for cocktail party chit chat, networking small talk, and holiday dinner-table conversation. 

Watch the full video on HBR's YouTube channel.

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Why do we do what we do? What factors drive us? And how do things like competition with others help us achieve our goals?

These are the questions most interesting to Szu-chi Huang, an associate professor of marketing with a specific interest in motivation. “Competition definitely increases motivation,” says Huang. “It makes attaining the goal more valuable.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Huang and host Matt Abrahams explore the intersection of human psychology, behavior, and goal attainment — and how communication connects them all.

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We should all be audience-centric in communication. But, as Julian Treasure contests, we need to take it one step further. What is the listening I am speaking into?, he says, is the question every speaker should ask themselves over and over.

"Every human being’s listening is unique ... we listen through a set of filters and those filters develop as we grow and mature in life and we have experiences. Knowing where the person is coming from, you'll be able to sense their listening."

Treasure, an expert on speaking and sound, also offers advice on the breathing techniques that can transform one's speech. "If you want to speak powerfully, develop a breathing practice. And that can be as simple as conscious breathing, which is breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth."

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Treasure and host Matt Abrahams explore the power of breath; the four steps to show someone we're engaged and listening; and how by framing speech as a gift, we can better serve our audience. 

Treasure is the author of Sound Business. His most recent book, How to be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening, is based on his TED Talk. 

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What if you had that job? What if you were with that person? What if there’s a better option out there? If you find yourself asking these questions, Patrick McGinnis invented the term for what you’re experiencing: FOMO.

First coined by McGinnis in a piece published by the Harvard Business School newspaper, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) describes the anxiety we feel when thinking that other people are having more fun and living more fulfilling lives than we are. As McGinnis says, “We are constantly comparing ourselves to other people. We are seeing the options that are out there. And then we're saying, what I'm doing right now isn't good enough. I am missing out on something.”

Both in his book, Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision-Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice, and in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, McGinnis explains how conscious decision-making can help us feel more sure of our choices and experience less anxiety about the options we pass up.

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This episode we're sharing an excerpt from Matt Abrahams's audiobook, Think Faster, Talk Smarter. Listen in as Matt explains how to think like a movie director, where a mistake isn't a grave error, but rather a "missed takes" and an opportunity to try again with a new approach.

This audio excerpt is courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio from THINK FASTER, TALK SMARTER by Matt Abrahams, read by the author. Copyright 2023 by Matthew Abrahams LLC. Used with permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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“Sparking communication starts with asking why or what or how.”

On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Tina Seelig, the Professor of the Practice at Stanford’s department of management science and engineering and the executive director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, chats with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams about the importance of asking questions about everything we do.

“Having a mindset of curiosity opens the door to great communication,” Seelig says. “The more questions you ask, the more you learn, the more engaged you will be with others.”

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Whatever you’re writing, Todd Rogers says most people are too busy to read it. That’s why, he says, “you want to make it as easy as possible for them."

Rogers is a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the author of the book Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World. From text messages to fundraising letters to political speeches, Rogers says effective writing makes it “easy for busy readers to navigate what we send them, pull out the key information, and do what they are planning to do anyway, which is move on to the next thing.” This kind of writing, Rogers says, is “more effective for us, and kinder to readers.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Rogers and host Matt Abrahams explore how to use structure, simplicity, and everyday vocabulary to write in a way that saves readers time and transmits ideas more effectively.

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You said it. But did they hear it? For Frances Frei, communication is about saying things simply enough for an audience to truly understand.

As a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School, Frei knows that shaping culture within organizations requires communicating in ways that influence how people think and act. The problem for many leaders, she says, is that when we “understand something deeply, we describe it in a complicated way. If you want broad influence and persuasion, we have to understand it really deeply. And then describe it in a simple and compelling enough way that others can take action.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Frei and host Matt Abrahams explore strategies for simpler communication, building and maintaining trust, and celebrating diverse perspectives within our teams. They also discuss takeaways from Frei's latest book, Move Fast and Fix Things: The Trusted Leaders' Guide to Solving Hard Problems.

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If you’re reading from your notes, you're going to miss the magic of the moment. That’s why Adam Tobin, Dan Klein, and Patricia Ryan Madsen bring improv techniques to all their communication.

Communication experts in their respective fields of media, performance, and drama, Tobin, Klein, and Madsen all see the immense power of improv in helping us communicate more freely. As Tobin says, "You do the preparation so that you are expert in the material. And then you let go of the specific delivery of the information in favor of being aware of what's going on now." Madsen agrees, explaining that we don't need all the answers, we just need to show up. "Step first," she says, "then see where you are."

In this celebration of the 100th episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the three guests join host Matt Abrahams to discuss how improv can transform our communication in everything from small talk to work presentations, and help us create space where we feel safe enough to show up as our most authentic selves.

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In this episode, executive producer Jenny Luna interviews host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams about the tips and tools in his new book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot

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In January of 2020 we launched Think Fast Talk Smart with the goal of helping people improve their communication skills. Now, with more than 100 episodes and an engaged audience tuning in from more than 200 countries, we're proud to take you back to the very first episode, where the magic began.

As we've discussed multiple times on the show, most professional communication is spontaneous in nature. It’s providing feedback in the moment, answering questions, introducing people. On this inaugural episode, Strategic Communication lecturer Matt Abrahams speaks with Stanford lecturers Adam Tobin and Dan Klein on how to become more comfortable and confident in in-the-moment speaking situations. 

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Moving forward in our careers often means giving and receiving feedback. But how candid can we be in communicating with others? For Kim Scott, anything less than radical just isn’t enough.

An executive, speaker, author, and executive coach, Scott is known for her concept of Radical Candor, which she defines as “caring personally and challenging directly at the same time." By mapping communication onto the axes of caring and challenging, she derives four quadrants of feedback behavior: radical andor, obnoxious aggression, manipulative insincerity, and ruinous empathy.

In this episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, Scott shares how we can all move our communication into the Radical Candor quadrant, “to learn what we don't know and to help other people learn what they don't know.”

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"We're wired to look for the path of least resistance and efficiency, and that's normally a good thing, but it can get in the way when we want to make a change," says Wharton professor Katy Milkman. Through her research on decision making and in her recent book How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want To Be, Milkman examines the many barriers we create for ourselves when it comes to achieving goals.

"Who you surround yourself [is important] with because we have a tendency to conform to the people around us," she says. "And if we are surrounded by people who show us our limitations, that can be a barrier."

On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams sits down with Milkman to further explore her research into human behavior and decision making, motivation, and tools we can use to make real change. 

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The best communicators express ideas simply. And to do that, says Carmine Gallo, “you have to connect with people in a language they understand.”

Gallo is an author, communication coach, and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. For him, the cornerstone of good communication is empathizing with an audience enough to truly speak their language. “Think about the audience first,” he says. “If you cannot speak the same language to different stakeholders and adapt the language for those different stakeholders, you’ll never get anything done.”

On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Gallo and host Matt Abrahams discuss how we can simplify our language and weave relevant stories to translate and tailor our communication for our audience.

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What does it take to have a presence that’s felt by those around us? According to Muriel Wilkins, the answer is simple: Be present.

“Having presence, at the root of it, [is] your ability to be present,” says Wilkins, a C-suite advisor, executive coach, and host of the HBR podcast, Coaching Real Leaders. Working with some of the business world’s top brass, Wilkins helps leaders discover how they can use presence to communicate more effectively, lead more authentically, and create more impact in their organizations.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Wilkins and host Matt Abrahams explore communication strategies that leaders and individuals can use to improve their presence and show up more authentically to work and life.

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When it comes to emotional and physical wellbeing, Psychology professor Geoffrey Cohen says there is one healthy behavior that outweighs the others: authentic connection. “It is really, really important,” he says. 

Deep connections with other people are foundational to a happy and healthy life. As Cohen explores in his new book, Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, achieving a sense of belonging isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential. “That sense of connection is so woven into our DNA that if we don't have it, we suffer,” he says. “Not having that sense of connection with other people does great biological damage and seems to be one of the major contributors to disease and mortality."

As Cohen and host Matt Abrahams explore in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, effective communication is the tool we need to build strong connections with others and enjoy a deep sense of belonging.

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What does it take to be a more effective communicator? According to Dan Lyons, it starts with knowing when to shut your mouth.

As a journalist, author, and screenwriter, Lyons knows a thing or two about wielding words. But as he reveals in his book, STFU: The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World, most of us talk too much and listen too little. “A great conversation is about listening. And it probably involves you talking less,” he says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Lyons and host Matt Abrahams explore how to stop over-talking, emphasizing the value of active listening, asking good questions, and giving others space to speak.

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Being a better listener has a lot to do with silence, says Collins Dobbs, a lecturer in management at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “A lot of people are uncomfortable with the smallest modicum of silence, but learning often happens when we create distance for useful reflection.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Dobbs talks with host Matt Abrahams about the importance of “space, pace, and grace” when you’re receiving others’ feedback and handling the emotions that come out during tough discussions.

“There’s often a lot more focus on the skill set on delivering emotion than receiving emotion, but if the receiver of emotion can put themselves in a place of curiosity, agency, and openness … it opens up a whole new world of possibilities.”

Dobbs is an executive coach and teaches several courses, including Interpersonal Dynamics and Leadership Labs.

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 How do we deal with professional blind spots? According to David Dodson, MBA ’87, we need the panoramic perspective of those who work around us.

“360 reviews, done properly, are a massive competitive weapon,” says Dodson, also a lecturer in management at Stanford GSB and author of the new book, The Manager’s Handbook. Such comprehensive and constructive feedback, he says, can be transformational for employees and managers alike. “The first time I did a 360 review and got feedback was a massive turning point in my development as a manager,” he says. “Had I not had 360 feedback, I probably would have gone a decade or more with ineffective technique.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Dodson shares valuable insights and actionable advice for individuals in leadership and management roles, highlighting the importance of effective communication and feedback in achieving success.

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Communication is like a game. For it to work, each person has to trust that their partner will play by the rules. As Professor Anat Admati says, the same is true for corporations and their stakeholders.

“To have good governance, you need trust and accountability,” says Admati, a professor of finance and economics and the director of the Corporations and Society Initiative. How does a society ensure that markets, businesses, and governments are all on the same page? As Admati says, “We need rules. I can commit to you that I won’t harm you because something bad will happen to me if I [do].”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Admati joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how communication forms a bedrock of trust that can align markets, businesses, and governments — for more accountable capitalism and a healthier society.

Episode Reference Links:

• Anat Admati: The Economist Who Said “The Bankers Have No Clothes”

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Why is a boat a “she?” Why give names like Alexa or Siri to inanimate pieces of software? According to assistant professor of organizational behavior Ashley Martin, ascribing gender to everyday objects helps us to connect with them more deeply.

“Gender is this humanizing force that allows people to interact with non-human things as if they’re human,” says Martin, whose research focuses on gender equality, gender inclusion, and gender’s role within team and organizational dynamics. And while Martin is interested in how anthropomorphizing technology can benefit the humans who use it, she also notes how “problematic stereotypes” could be perpetuated as a result.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Martin joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how our ideas about gender inform the way we relate to the world and how we can leverage the latest research to promote greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

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Saying no can seem risky. We worry about offending others, damaging relationships, or hurting our own reputation. But as Vanessa Patrick says, no is an empowering word that gives us greater agency in our lives.

Saying no “is not a rejection of the other person,” says Patrick, a professor of Marketing at the University of Houston. Instead, it allows you to set boundaries and “[give] voice to what you believe and what you care about.” In her book, The Power of Saying No, Patrick introduces what she calls “empowered refusal,” a way of saying no that’s rooted in one’s identity, values, priorities, and preferences. “An empowered no,” she says, “is about us, not a rejection of the other person.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Patrick and host Matt Abrahams explore how to use the power of no, how to move from strategy forming to strategy implementation, and how to resist momentary pleasures that distract us from our larger goals.

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Breaking new ground, Think Fast, Talk Smart steps into the world of live events, bringing together an eager audience of LEAD students from Stanford University and a top-notch panel of former podcast guests: Jesper B. Sørensen, Sarah Soule, Jonathan Levav,and Szu-chi Huang. Topics include crafting strategy for successful leadership and tips on how to effectively lead a hybrid team.

This episode also features an interactive audience segment, where various participants of the Stanford LEAD program answer the three questions traditionally posed to guests.

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How are you feeling right now? According to Celine Teoh, we all need to ask ourselves that question more often — and be more precise in how we answer it.

Teoh is a facilitator of the course Interpersonal Dynamics, or “Touchy Feely,” as it’s affectionately known on campus. In her work with students and as a CEO coach, she encourages people to get better acquainted with their feelings. “Feelings are data,” she says. “In the rest of our logical lives, we would never make decisions on bad or highly abstract data. But we'll do that with feelings.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Teoh and host Matt Abrahams discuss how developing greater emotional awareness can help us achieve more agency and empathy in our personal and professional lives.

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“What people regret over time are things they didn't do. They didn't take that trip, they didn't ask that person out on a date. They didn't start that business,” says former political speech writer and best-selling author Dan Pink. “I think it's because we are slightly over-indexed on risk. We overstate the risk in many circumstances.” 

On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams sits down with Pink to hear how we should all take more risks and how leaders can inspire others by focusing on the why instead of the how. 

“There's almost incontrovertible evidence that sense of purpose is the most cost effective performance enhancer that organizations have,” Pink says.  

They also discuss the power in taking breaks, which Pink considers part of performance, not a deviation from it. “What we know from many domains is that professionals take breaks. It's not that amateurs take breaks and the professionals don't, it's the exact opposite.” 

Pink’s latest book is The Power of Regret, How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.

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We’re often advised not to use “um” or “uh”, or “so” and “you know” in our communication. But linguist Valerie Fridland might argue otherwise. “Language is about how we encode both the linguistic message and a social message,” she says. “Crutch words … are really valuable and they have arisen to serve a need.” 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Fridland sits down with host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams to discuss how and when we use "you know","so", and other filler words. For example, Fridland says, the way we use “um” varies greatly from how and we might use “uh.” And the use of “like,” while deplored by many, actually serves a linguistic function and can provide context and background for a listener.

She and Matt also discuss the social linguistic function of vocal fry and whether emojis have a place in business communication. 

Fridland is a professor of sociolinguistics at the University of Nevada. She's an expert on the relationship between language and society and recently released a new book, Like Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.

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In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with David Eagleman, a neuroscientist and the host of the PBS series The Brain, to discuss why our brains are wired for storytelling and how new senses might impact our connection and communication with others.

“I’ve always been really interested in this idea of how we can pass information to the brain via unusual channels,” Eagleman says. “We’ve got our eyes or ears or fingertips and our nose, we’re very used to this and we sort of think these are fundamental, but of course, this is just what we’ve inherited from a long road of evolution … It turns out you can push information in the brain in other ways.”

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Whether you’re trying to build a romantic or professional connection, Rachel Greenwald’s advice is exactly the same. “Focus on how you make someone feel more than you focus on the words that you're saying,” she says. 

As a professional coach, Greenwald helps people develop better communication skills, from executives in the business world to singles in the dating world. Building deep connections may at times be challenging, but as Greenwald says, it’s ultimately not complicated. “You're demonstrating that you're interested in someone and that you like them,” she says.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Greenwald and host Matt Abrahams discuss relationship-building tactics like small talk, active listening, communication blindspots, and more.

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*This episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart won "Best Business Podcast Episode" at the 2023 Webby Awards.* 

“You’re not going to hit the mark with everybody, but you still need to be mindful of everybody,” says Jonathan Levav, a professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “That’s critical to create an environment where communication is effective.”

In this podcast episode, Levav sits down with podcast host Matt Abrahams to talk about how to lead from home and how to foster an environment for creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

It’s not just maintaining a company culture, it’s about establishing what that culture is online, Levav says. “How can you encourage those serendipitous conversations that tend to happen in person?”

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We’ve all been there — we think we understand something, but when it comes time to explain it to someone else, we flounder.

According to Gregory LaBlanc, a lecturer in management at Stanford GSB, attempting to communicate concepts reveals whether or not we properly grasped them in the first place. “If you think you understand something but you're incapable of communicating it, it probably means that you don't really understand it,” he says.

For communication to be effective, LaBlanc says it’s not enough to transmit a message. As he and Matt Abrahams discuss on this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, we have to be skilled translators, adept at decoding our ideas and recoding them in ways our audience will understand.

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Whether you want to read more books or exercise more regularly, BJ Fogg has good news. “Habits are easier to form than most people think,” he says, “If you do it in the right way.”

As the founder and director of Stanford's Behavior Design Lab, Fogg has devoted much of his career to researching human psychology, motivation, and behavior. According to him, habit formation isn’t a product of simply doing something over and over again. “It's not a function of repetition,” he says, “it's a function of emotion.”

As Fogg discusses with host Matt Abrahams in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, bringing our behavior in line with our goals is easier than we think — we just have to know the emotional levers to pull.

Episode Reference Links:

• Fogg's Book: Tiny Habits

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Having to communicate in a language other than our native tongue can be quite a challenge, especially without a script or prepared speech.

In this "Rethinks" episode, we revisit Matt's conversation with Kenneth Romeo about specific tactics that non-native speakers can use to handle in-the-moment challenges. Romeo also discusses why letting go of perfection is a key step toward speaking with confidence. 

Romeo has served as the associate director of the Stanford Language Center and a teacher of English to non-native speakers through Stanford Continuing Studies. Romeo is a professor at Waseda University in Japan.

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“The self is incompatible with freedom, the way most people understand it, because the self is a constraint,” says social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior Brian Lowery. “The ‘you’ you’re talking about is actually the relationships you have, the social interactions you have and the cultural context you exist in."

In this Quick Thinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Lowery sits down with podcast host and lecturer in strategic communications Matt Abrahams to talk about his new book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You. Lowery argues that there is no essential “self” — our selves are creations of those we interact with — exploring what that means for who we can be and who we allow others to be. He also shares research on how asking deeply personal questions can be a tool for deepening relationships. 

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“If you're not living life according to your own values, you're most likely living them according to someone else's,” says Charlotte Burgess-Auburn.

Burgess-Auburn is a designer, artist, educator, and the Director of Community at the d.school. With her recently published guide, You Need A Manifesto: How To Craft Your Convictions And Put Them To Work, she aims to help people identify their core values and then codify them to chart a course of meaning and purpose.

“A manifesto is a statement of purpose and a script for action,” she says, “a compass [and] navigation tool to help you find your way.” As she and Matt Abrahams discuss on this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, a personal manifesto can help us communicate our deepest values — first to ourselves, and then to the world.

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It’s easy to feel like the star of the show when giving a presentation. But according to communication guru Nancy Duarte, you’re not the hero of this story.

For Duarte, founder and CEO of world-renowned communication consulting firm Duarte Inc, effective communication is built on the foundation of empathy, which means considering your audience first and foremost. “All the attention is on us. But in reality, the audience is the one,” she says. “If they don’t leave with your idea adopted, your idea is going to die.”

How can presenters use empathy to put their audience at center stage? As Duarte discusses with host Matt Abrahams in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, it’s about seeking to understand before you start speaking.

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