Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

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...

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 v...

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 m...

*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...

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 t...

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...

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 confid...

“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...

“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 v...

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...

Why does disagreement feel so personal? According to author, journalist, and physician Seema Yasmin , it’s because beliefs aren’t just about what we think, they’re about who we are. “What [people] believe is entrenched in them, and it’s to do with their sense of belonging and their sense of identity,” says Yasmin. Whether we’re butting heads over something trivial like sports or something major li...

Words have impact. But when it comes to enchanting audiences and captivating with communication, Jonah Berger , PhD ’07, says some words are more potent than others. Berger is a Wharton School professor and an internationally bestselling author. His most recent book, Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way , identifies language we can use to communicate more effectively in all sorts of personal a...

If we want healthier companies, schools, and teams associate professor of organizational behavior Adina Sterling says investing in the health of marginalized groups “can have enormous spillover effects for everyone.” Sterling is an organizational theorist and economic sociologist whose research explores how human relationships affect organizations and markets. As she says, “The outcomes that indiv...

To celebrate our 75th episode , we hosted a live "Ask Me Anything" event with Matt. In this global gathering, listeners called in with questions ranging from making a first impression and giving negative feedback to presenting virtually and the worst communication advice Matt's ever received. In addition to audience questions, Matt also shares a short lecture to outline his top three guiding princ...

In this "Quick Thinks" episode, host Matt Abrahams interviews ChatGPT, an AI natural language processing chatbot, about its purpose, sources of information, ethical considerations, and the importance of human communication skills. To produce this episode, Matt typed his questions to ask ChatGPT, then recorded them in the studio. Producers then used Descript Overdub to "read" ChatGPT's responses. T...

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...

Do love and money mix? Labor economist and Stanford Graduate School of Business professor emerita Myra Strober says absolutely.  “Separating money and love is not a good idea. I have had 40 years to think about this, and, in my class at the GSB on work and family, each semester I realize how important it is to intertwine love and money." In this episode, Matt Abrahams sits down with Strober and so...

In one of our most popular episodes, professor of Marketing Baba Shiv shares his research on how emotions affect decision making. Knowing this, and applying techniques to help guide our audience through information and emotion, can help us make our messages stick. In this best-of episode we've included extra audio from Matt Abrahams's conversation with Shiv from November of 2020 that touches on ho...

As a communication expert, Alison Wood Brooks spends a lot of time talking about talking. But, as she says, listening is just as important. “My course is called TALK,” says Wood Brooks, who is the O'Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow at Harvard Business School. “The great irony is that it should really be called LISTEN . It’s hard to be a good listener...

When it comes to negotiating and managing conflict, Professor Michele Gelfand says it’s time to get creative. Everybody has wants and needs. So what do we do when our priorities compete with those of other people? According to Gelfand, a professor of organizational behavior, negotiations and conflict management are exercises in creative problem-solving, ones where we look for ways to not only get...

As Professor Jesper Sørensen sees it, a winning strategy is the result of conversations, not commands. Sørensen says 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, he...

What’s the secret to coming up with good ideas? For Jeremy Utley , it’s about generating as many as possible.  The director of executive education at the Stanford d.school, Utley says, “very few problems we face in business or in life have a single right answer.” All ideas — the good, the bad, and the ugly — are “a necessary input to an innovation process,” and an essential step in getting to solu...

Stress, anxiety, nervousness — when these feelings inevitably arise, lecturer Kelly McGonigal says it’s not about making them go away, but using them to your advantage. “What I have come to value about anxiety,” says McGonigal, “is it’s a sign that I care.” As she explains, feelings of stress alert us to things that matter to us and help us stay present in the moment — particularly useful, she say...

As the dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dean Jon Levin knows the importance of crafting the right message and sharing it in the right way. But, as he says, one of the biggest challenges for any leader is to know what to communicate, and how.  How do leaders strike the balance between being clear and directive, and as Levin says, “leaving space for people to form their own opinions, to...

Why do we drive on only one side of the road? Why don’t we sing in libraries? Why wear a swimsuit? For Professor Michele Gelfand , it all comes down to culture. As a cross-cultural psychologist, Gelfand is fascinated by social environments and their effects on human behavior, particularly, how strictly people adhere to social norms. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart , Gelfand joins host an...