Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

"If all you're trying to do is inform, you're not going to pull it off. You have to entertain your audience." Great presentations don't just share information—they create connection. As Apple's former Chief Evangelist and Canva's co-founder, Guy Kawasaki has spent decades helping people communicate ideas that inspire action. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , Kawasaki joins Matt Abrahams...

"You want to own the message and your narrative." Strong communication is about more than delivering a message—it’s about building trust over time. As Zoom’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kim Storin has helped shape communication at one of the world’s most recognizable brands, balancing empathy, transparency, and consistency in an era of rapid technological change. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk S...

"If these masters are still continually trying to improve their own craft, I don't have any excuses." The world's best don't reach the top and stop learning—they keep refining their craft. David Rogier , founder and CEO of MasterClass, has spent years sitting across from elite performers, athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs—and he’s discovered that excellence is less about talent than a relentles...

“Communication is the number one way to remove friction.” If communication is the key to connection, then removing friction is what makes every interaction work. According to Vanessa Van Edwards , the most effective communicators aren’t just skilled with words—they know how to align their gestures, body language, and presence to make others feel at ease. A behavioral researcher and bestselling aut...

Celebrating 300 episodes with listener questions from around the world.  In this special 300th episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , host Matt Abrahams celebrates a major milestone with a live Ask Matt Anything session featuring questions from listeners around the world—and a few from the team behind the show. He introduces a new communication framework, PREP (Point, Reason, Example, Point), before...

How to communicate with impact when the stakes are high. Communication isn't about getting information out. It's about making sure it gets through. In an era of fragmented attention and endless platforms, the challenge isn't finding ways to speak—it's finding ways to connect. According to Farnaz Khadem , Vice President of University Communications at Stanford, great communicators start with three...

The nonverbal habits that make you look confident, composed, and authentic before you even speak. How you carry yourself can shape how others perceive your confidence, credibility, and authenticity—often before you say a word. In this Quick Thinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , Matt Abrahams shares practical, research-backed techniques for strengthening your presence through body language, po...

Why the most effective communicators help people see not just what's changing, but why it matters to them. For Sinéad Bovell , effective communication isn’t just about explaining what’s coming next—it’s about giving people the confidence and agency to engage with it. Bovell is a futurist, founder of the tech education company WAYE, and an expert advisor to the United Nations AI Advisory Body. Know...

Practical communication strategies you can use immediately at work and beyond. How do you speak up when a conversation is moving faster than you can think? What should you do when emotions threaten to derail your listening? And how can you give honest feedback to a boss who doesn’t seem interested in hearing it? In this Ask Matt Anything episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , host Matt Abrahams answe...

Why the best leaders treat uncertainty as a chance to learn, not a failure to avoid. Most companies are built to grow. Far fewer are built to stay true to their purpose as they do. Eric Ries is an entrepreneur, creator of the Lean Startup movement, and author of Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great . For Ries, innovation starts with a simple reality: nobody c...

Do you really win the negotiation if it means losing the relationship? You might think that successful negotiation means getting what you want here and now. But Stan Christensen says this short-sighted view is selling many negotiators short. Christensen is a professional negotiator, host of the All Things Negotiation podcast, and instructor of one of Stanford's most popular courses on the subject....

What it takes to lead as a communicator and communicate as a leader. Leadership isn’t just about making decisions — it’s about how you communicate them. As Matt Abrahams puts it, “Communication is operationalized leadership.” At a recent Me2We event, in connection with Stanford GSB's Executive Education LEAD program, Abrahams held a live discussion with four of the podcast’s most popular guests: C...

The hidden habits behind calm, confident communicators. What does it really take to become a more confident communicator? In this special collaboration between Think Fast, Talk Smart and Headspace , host Matt Abrahams shares practical, mindful strategies for speaking with clarity, managing anxiety, listening more deeply, and connecting more authentically with others. Across five short lessons, Mat...

What keeps us from being more social? Nick Epley calls it a “mind-reading mistake.” We all think about what others think, particularly what they think about us. The problem, says Nick Epley , is that we’re almost always wrong. Epley is a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and author of A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happ...

How can we approach aging with more joy, empathy, and meaningful connection? We often talk about lifespan, or how long we live, but Kerry Burnight believes the more important question is how fully we live along the way. Burnight is a gerontologist, former professor of geriatric medicine, and author of Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half . Drawing from decades of experien...

A full life isn’t about the quantity of time, but the quality. Our lifespan might describe how long we live, but it doesn’t say anything about how well we live. For that, Kerry Burnight says, we need a different measure: joyspan. Burnight is a gerontologist, former professor of geriatric medicine, and author of Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half . In her decades working...

The Tiger Sisters share the keys to collaborative communication. Good marketing communication doesn’t just go one way. As the Tiger Sisters know, building a brand is about bringing your audience into the conversation. Cherie and Jean Luo are sisters, tech and finance experts, and co-hosts of the Tiger Sisters Podcast , a show about money, power, and love. Their approach to content creation mirrors...

If you want to do your best, you’d better get your rest. The quality of your sleep fundamentally affects the quality of your communication. Communicating well, Dr. Cheri Mah says, starts with being well-rested. “Sleep impacts nearly every aspect of how you function,” says Mah, a sleep physician, adjunct lecturer at Stanford Sleep Medicine Center, and internationally recognized expert on sleep and...

Confidence, clarity, and speaking when it matters. Confident communication isn’t about being the loudest in the room. For Susie Wolff , it’s about displaying assurance before you even open your mouth. Wolff is a former professional race car driver, managing director of F1 Academy, and author of Driven . Throughout her career in one of the world's most male-dominated industries, she’s learned that...

The secret to better communication isn’t adding more—it’s knowing what to leave out. Communication isn’t clearer when you say more — it’s clearer when you say less. As David Epstein puts it, we’re wired to keep adding, even when “the better solution is often what you take away.” The challenge isn’t having ideas; it’s choosing which one actually matters. Epstein is an author and investigative journ...

What stops you from speaking up when it matters most? This week on Think Fast Talk Smart , we’re featuring a special episode from TED Business. Healthcare leader Sarah Crawford-Bohl offers a practical, compassionate framework to have difficult conversations with clarity and heart — and shows how it can lead to stronger teams and real impact. TED Business is a podcast from TED that offers you a new...

Simple strategies to think faster, stay authentic, and communicate with confidence.  How do you stay genuine without sounding rehearsed? What helps when your thoughts are moving faster than your words? And how can you handle high-pressure moments with more ease? Strong communication isn’t about having the right lines ready—it’s about being present enough to respond with clarity. In the moment, it’...

If you can make conversation, you can make your own luck. Good communication isn’t passive. And good luck, says Tina Seelig , is the same. There’s “what the world gives us,” and then there’s “how we respond to it.” Seelig is executive director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program at Stanford University and author of What I Wish I Knew About Luck . For her, good fortune doesn’t find us, we find...

Great communication isn’t about saying more—it’s about making what you say matter. If we want to communicate more effectively, we need to treat communication less like a habit—and more like a series of intentional choices. In this special feed drop, we’re featuring a conversation from the ⁠ Masters of Scale ⁠ podcast, where host ⁠Jeff Berman⁠ sits down with Stanford lecturer and ⁠ Think Fast, Talk...

Work is changing, not ending—what it takes to stay relevant in an AI-driven world. Careers aren’t ladders anymore — they’re climbing walls. As Aneesh Raman puts it, “work is changing, not ending,” and success today depends on how well you can navigate change and explain your path along the way. Raman is the Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn and a former presidential speechwriter for B...