Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

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 YouT...

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 Sm...

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 experienc...

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...

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 t...

“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...

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...

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 wh...

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...

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 Connect: Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart Premium Email Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.io Episode Transcripts &gt...

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 natu...

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 communicatio...

"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 ourse...

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 say...

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 c...

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 ,...

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 abo...

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,...

 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 transformationa...

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 ensu...

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...

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 y...

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...

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 a...

“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 commun...