“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.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

Show Notes

Dan Pink

https://hbr.org/2014/11/cooks-make-tastier-food-when-they-can-see-their-customers

Feelings First: How Emotion Shapes Our Communication, Decisions, and Experiences (episode with Baba Shiv)

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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: the podcast, 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.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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*This episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart recently 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.

LaBlanc is the host of unSILOed.

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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.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

More Resources

BJ Fogg at Stanford

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 "Best of" 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. 

Brian Lowery is the co-director of the Stanford Institute on Race and the host of the podcast, Know What You See. 

Resources:

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/brian-lowery

Selfless: The Social Creation of "You" by Brian Lowery

Know What You See Podcast

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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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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 like COVID-19 vaccines, Yasmin points out that the disagreement is just the surface — underneath are complex layers of geopolitics, history, language, dialect, culture, faith, family history, and power hierarchies.

So how do we show compassion to others, especially when we disagree with them? Yasmin and host Matt Abrahams explore strategies for more empathetic communication in this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart.

More resources:

https://seemayasmin.com/what-the-fact-finding-the-truth-in-all-the-noise/

https://seemayasmin.com/viral-bs-medical-myths-and-why-we-fall-for-them-hardcover/

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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 and professional contexts. “Subtle shifts in language can have a huge impact on everything from convincing clients and holding attention to connecting with loved ones in our lives,” Berger says.

Magic words allow us to change minds, engage audiences, and drive action. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart: The Podcast, Berger and host Matt Abrahams discuss how we can leverage their power in our own communication.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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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 individuals, groups, and organizations experience have to do with the social networks that they have.”

In her class and lab, Equity by Design, Sterling explores the structural and cultural drivers of workplace inequality. In this episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, she and Matt Abrahams discuss how organizations can leverage social networks, DE&I efforts, and better communication to create better outcomes for individuals and the collective.

More resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpu4Xbz5Tjg,

https://gsb-faculty.stanford.edu/adina-sterling/equity-by-design-lab/

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/egalitarian-effort-how-cultural-scrutiny-produces-gendered-hiring

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/fairness-job-fairs-how-race-gender-influence-relational

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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 principles when it comes to being a confidence speaker and leader. 

Show Notes: 

[2:00] Know Your Audience: First and foremost is their knowledge level relative to the topic that we're discussing. Do they know a lot or do they know just a little?

Three guiding principles for Successful Communication

[3:51] Principle 1. Set Your Communication Goal: A goal has three major parts: information, emotion, and action. The best metric of success is: Is your audience leaving knowing what you want them to know? Feeling how you want them to feel? And doing what you want them to do?

[5:08] Principle 2. Structure your message. Using: What, So What, Now What. 

[7:10] Principle 3. The Art of the Paraphrase.

[9:14] Using Paraphrasing to move a conversation forward

[11:01] Ask me anything:

[11:24] Question 1: What is the worst communication advice that you have ever given or received?

[13:11] Question 2: How can you try to understand the expectations or knowledge or background of your audience in order to make your presentation effective?

[16:05] Question 3: How do I communicate negative feedback to a colleague, especially when there's an action step involved?

[18:30] Question 4: How would you make your first impression?

[22:00] Question 5: How has virtual communication changed the way we communicate?

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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.

[Show Notes]

• The purpose of ChatGPT is to provide informative and accurate responses to questions in natural language.
• ChatGPT uses vast amounts of text data from the internet to generate responses based on patterns it has seen in the data.
• It is important to critically evaluate ChatGPT's responses and not rely on them as the sole source of information.
• The ultimate responsibility for ensuring academic integrity and ethical behavior lies with the individuals using ChatGPT.
• Effective communication skills are still essential, even with the existence of ChatGPT, as it cannot replace the human interaction and emotional intelligence that comes with face-to-face communication.

[00:00:00] Introduction: Matt Abrahams welcomes listeners to this special episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, where he will be interviewing an AI algorithm, ChatGPT.

[00:01:17] ChatGPT's Purpose: Matt asks ChatGPT to define its purpose and give two examples of how it can be used. ChatGPT responds by saying its purpose is to provide informative and accurate responses to questions in natural language and gives examples of answering factual questions and generating creative text.

[00:02:04] How ChatGPT Gets Its Information: Matt asks ChatGPT where it gets its information to answer questions. ChatGPT explains that it is a language model trained by OpenAI on vast amounts of text data from the internet, which allows it to generate responses based on patterns it has seen in the data.

[00:03:07] Ensuring Accuracy and Ethics: Matt asks ChatGPT about safeguards to ensure its answers are appropriate, accurate, and ethical. ChatGPT emphasizes the importance of critically evaluating its responses and notes that not all information on the internet is accurate. It also states that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring academic integrity and ethical behavior lies with the individuals using ChatGPT.

[00:04:23] Reducing Speaking Anxiety: Matt asks ChatGPT to give advice on reducing speaking anxiety in a fun way, as a Dr. Seuss rhyme. ChatGPT provides advice on deep breathing, being confident, and speaking with pride.

[00:04:53] The Need for Human Communication Skills: Matt asks ChatGPT if people still need to learn how to communicate better now that it exists. ChatGPT responds by saying that effective communication skills are still essential, as it cannot replace the human interaction and emotional intelligence that comes with face-to-face communication.

[00:05:00] Conclusion: Matt concludes the episode by thanking ChatGPT for joining him on Think Fast, Talk Smart and for providing valuable insights into the world of AI and communication.

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Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of strategic communication at Stanford GSB, as he sits down with experts from across campus to discuss public speaking anxiety, speaking off the cuff, nailing a Q&A, and more.

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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.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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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 podcast episode, Matt Abrahams sits down with Strober and social innovation leader Abby Davisson to discuss the thorny topics of work, money, career, and love. In their new book, Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decisions, the coauthors provide a framework for communicating in and around tough decisions with those we love. These may include caring for aging relatives, expanding your family, changing careers or moving.

“If you are in a relationship, maybe you have kids or other people living in your household, the first thing you need to realize is that your career decisions are going to affect the whole ecosystem,” Davisson says. “It’s very important not just to clarify what you want, but to anticipate and think about the impact on those around you.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

More resources:

Myra Strober: Breaking Barriers at Stanford GSB

 Achieving Balance In Work and Life, video with Myra Strober

Myra Strober: How the Workplace Works — or Doesn't — for Families

An Economist’s Take on Why Parental Leave Matters

How Companies Can Solve the Pay Equity Problem

Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life's Biggest Decisions, HarperCollins

Strober and Davisson on Forbes

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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 footage from Matt Abrahams's conversation with Shiv from November of 2020 that touches on how to best approach writing emails.

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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 yet so very important.”

In the latest episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Wood Brooks covers conversation strategies for active listening, turning anxiety into excitement, and knowing when it’s time to change the subject.

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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 what we want, but for those on the other side of the table to get what they want too. “The best negotiators tend to be the most creative,” says Gelfand.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Gelfand joins Matt Abrahams to discuss how creative communication can help us find solutions where everybody wins.

Read part one of our interview with Gelfand here. 

More resources:

How Culture Affects Communication Styles

Threatening Language

Why The Pandemic Slammed Loose Countries

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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, 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.

Additional resources:

Making Great Strategy: Arguing for Organizational Advantage, by Jesper B. Sørensen Glenn R. Carroll

Class Takeaways: Crafting and Leading Strategy: Five lessons in five minutes — Professor Jesper Sørenson teaches how to create and implement a successful business strategy.

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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 solutions that will actually work.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Utley and host Matt Abrahams explore how we can focus less on finding the “right” answer and open ourselves up to more innovative ideas.

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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 says, when it comes to communication.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, McGonigal and host Matt Abrahams discuss how to channel stress toward more effective communication and to a deeper connection to our own purpose and meaning.

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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 discuss ideas, to debate”? He joins host and lecturer of strategic communications Matt Abrahams to discuss on this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart.

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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 and lecturer of strategic communications Matt Abrahams to explain why some cultures are “tight” and “have strict social norms,” while others are “loose,” with “more permissibility of behavior.”

SHOW NOTES

Stanford GSB Insights

• Threatening Language Can Be Contagious. This New Tool Tracks Its Spread
• Why the Pandemic Slammed “Loose” Countries Like the U.S.

MicheleGelfand.com

• Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World
• Mindset Quiz: How Tight or Loose Are You?

Other articles: 

• The loosening of American culture over 200 years is associated with a creativity–order trade-off
• The relationship between cultural tightness–looseness and COVID-19 cases and deaths: a global analysis

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“There’s no difference between the physiological response to something that you’re excited about and something that you’re nervous about or dreading,” says Andrew Huberman associate professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University.

In this “Best of” episode, we revisit one of our most popular interviews. In it, Huberman, from the wildly popular Huberman Lab Podcast, shares his research on the autonomic continuum, a spectrum between states of high alertness or fear all the way down to deep sleep, and shares how to use the system to your advantage. “If people can conceptualize that the anxiety or stress response is the same as the excitement response, they feel different,” Huberman says.

Join the community & conversation by following the Think Fast, Talk Smart LinkedIn page.

For transcripts & more information, visit the Think Fast, Talk Smart website

Timestamps

[1:32] Best of Summer series Episode 3 Homework Assignment: Breathing exercise

[3:09] The autonomic continuum and the state we enter when we get nervous

[5:59] Our nervous system when we're getting ready to go to the podium

[10:02] A relaxation hack: forward movement under conditions of anxiety or high levels of alertness

[12:50] EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing: side-to-side eye movement that triggers the suppression of fear in the brain

[15:11] Ways to raise your stress tolerance for high levels of agitation in your body.

[17:25] Breathing hack: Just an exhale is the wrong advice. You want to do a double inhale. So inhale twice through the nose. So inhale through the nose. And then before you exhale, sneak in a little bit more air and then do a long exhale.

[20:05] What we can do to prepare for anxiety in advance.

[22:50] Insight for virtual communication.

[24:44] Huberman's answer to the Think Fast, Talk Smart three questions Matt asks all guests.

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“We need to be much more adaptive in the way we think about hybrid work,” says Michael Arena. “Experiment, experiment, experiment.”

Innovation relies on teams connecting in very specific ways. But are those connections possible in a hybrid work reality? Glenn Carroll, a professor of management at Stanford GSB, and Michael Arena, a faculty member of Penn's Master's in Organizational Dynamics program, have been looking for the answer — studying how team interactions have changed since millions of workers went remote.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, they discuss how teams can optimize their communications to keep innovating in a post-pandemic world.

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How others perceive us in person and via social media can impact our careers and social standing. But we can build the reputation we want through conscious communication.

On this podcast episode, strategic communication lecturers Matt Abrahams and Allison Kluger share techniques on effectively improving and managing your reputation.

Listen for details on this episode’s “homework assignment” and share on LinkedIn.

Join the community & conversation by following the Think Fast, Talk Smart LinkedIn page.

Think Fast, Talk Smart on the Stanford GSB website

Show Notes:

• Allison Kluger, Stanford GSB profile
• Reputation Rules, by Daniel Diermeier
• “How Tylenol Made a Comeback” NYTimes
• Allison Kluger: "Telling your Story Can Lead to Success and Opportunity"
• Allison Kluger: Last Lecture Series: “If Not You, Then Who”

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Your words — are they credible? Or are they what Paul Oyer calls “cheap talk?”

According to professor of economics Paul Oyer, how our words align with our actions isn’t just a matter of communication, but a matter of economics too. Economic concepts hold in all areas of life, which Oyer’s research has explored in everything from Uber driving to online dating.

“Economics is everywhere,” Oyer says. “It's an incredibly powerful lens to analyze almost anything in the real world.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business. Join Matt Abrahams, lecturer in strategic communication, as he sits down with experts from across campus to discuss public speaking anxiety, speaking off the cuff, nailing a Q&A, and more. Find us on LinkedIn for more communication tips and techniques by searching "Think Fast, Talk Smart."

Show Notes:

An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights from the Economics of Sports by Paul Oyer

"Utility Player: Paul Oyer Explains How Economics Can Make Sports More Fun"

Books by William Manchester

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

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In the kickoff to our Summer Learning Series, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes. This interview features Stanford GSB faculty members Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas and gives specific insights into how humor can transform your communication at home and at work. At the time of this episode, their book Humor, Seriously was just set to launch.

Enjoy and see you on LinkedIn!

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All communication comes from a place of creativity and creativity is rooted in design. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, strategic communications lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams interviews four authors from the Stanford d.school. Each conversation challenges convention in how we approach our communication, be it visual, body language, or speech. 

Listen to this episode to hear more from Ashish Goel, author of Drawing on Courage; Susie Wise, author of Design for Belonging; Carissa Carter, author of The Secret Language of Maps; and Andrea Small, co author of Navigating Ambiguity.

Show Notes

Learn more about the d.school, the four authors, and the four guide books.

Think Fast, Talk Smart Website and Transcripts

Think Fast, Talk Smart LinkedIn Community

Matt Abrahams LinkedIn

Aleta Hayes, senior lecturer, Theater and Performance studies

Interpersonal Dynamics, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Think Fast, Talk Smart with Sarah Stein Greenberg: "Ideas & Empathy: How to Design and Communicate with Others in Mind"

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“It's not reassuring when we don't know the answers to critically important questions involved in health and wellbeing. But it's far more of a problem if we try to pretend we do.” In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford Medical School dean Lloyd Minor sits down with podcast host Matt Abrahams to discuss transparency in leadership.

“Rather than pushing ambiguity away, we should lean into it, and use it as a stimulus to guide our communication in more effective ways.” They also discuss the benefits an introvert can bring to leadership roles and critical role listening plays for anyone in a position of power. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business. Send us your questions and feedback via our LinkedIn page, search "Think Fast, Talk Smart."

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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.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

Show Notes

"How Pursuit of the Same Goal Can Turn Friends Into Foes," Stanford GSB Insights

"Step by Step: Sub-Goals as a Source of Motivation," Faculty Research: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

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In relationships between imperfect people, mistakes are inevitable. And when we find ourselves with damaged connections, it’s a specific kind of communication that can help us make amends.

Fred Luskin is the Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project, and has devoted much of his career to researching the way forgiveness affects our psychological, relational, and physical health.

“Apology is one of the few things that research shows actually facilitates forgiveness,” Luskin explains. In this Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast with host and strategic communication lecturer Matt Abrahams, Luskin outlines what it means to truly say we’re sorry.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Listening actively and deeply happens when I genuinely believe that the person who's speaking has intrinsic worth and brings a perspective that I lack and need.”

This episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart features Kristin Hansen, lecturer in management and executive director of Civic Health Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to reduce extreme polarization and foster healthier civil discourse in U.S. citizenry, politics, and media.

Together with host Matt Abrahams, Hansen shares how from our workplaces to our personal lives, communication thrives when we cultivate open-mindedness, intellectual humility, and genuine curiosity.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Anyone can make a complicated thing sound complicated. It takes real skill to make it sound simple.”

This episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart features Steve Blank, seasoned entrepreneur, marketer, and Stanford adjunct professor in the Department of Management Science and Engineering. 

“Messages need to be memorable,” he tells podcast host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams. “The more memorable the message, the greater its ability to create change.”

Blank teaches courses on Lean Startups, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and throughout his 45 years of launching businesses and helping others do the same, he’s learned the importance of crafting the perfect message by keeping it simple.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Lecturer Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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“Very often, you are not designing for yourself. And you kind of have to get out of your own way to effectively design with others’ needs in mind.”

In this podcast episode, lecturer Matt Abrahams is joined by Sarah Stein Greenberg, Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aka the Stanford d.school, and author of Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways.

Together, Greenberg and Abrahams discuss how design and communication require seeing things from more than just our own point of view, and the tools we can use to broaden our perspectives.

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“A mistake that some leaders make is to assume that the people in your organization share your core values. Some of the time some of them do, but there's a bunch who don't, and those are the most difficult sorts of situations.” 

In this podcast episode, Political Science professors Neil Malhotra and Ken Shotts sit down with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams, to discuss how to lead others whose values may not align with your own. 

“The most effective thing you can do is to understand the other person's story and frame the language and arguments around them. And I think kind of this is what framing is about, it's fundamentally about being empathetic.”

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“You’re not going to hit the mark with everybody, but you still need to be mindful of everybody,” says Jonathan Levav, the King Philanthropies Professor of Marketing. “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 the science behind decision fatigue, how to lead effectively while working from home, and how to create the right company culture both in the office and online. The right communication, Levav says, fosters an environment for creativity, innovation, and collaboration. “How can you encourage those serendipitous conversations that tend to happen in person?”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams sits down with finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen to talk about their new podcast, All Else Equal.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills. 

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In this 50th episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams and executive producer Jenny Luna share the winners' plans from our Confident Communicator Challenge and offer new, research-backed techniques for managing nervousness both before and during your communication. Thank you to many, many listeners from all over the world who sent in their anxiety management plans.

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“Make them want to turn the page,” says Paula Moya, a professor at Stanford University and author of The Social Imperative: Race, Close Reading, and Contemporary Literary Criticism. 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Moya sits down with strategic communication lecturer Matt Abrahams to share how the elements of story can be used in other types of communication. Create compelling situations, full of sense and surprise, she says. Create characters we can empathize with; speak your written sentences aloud, and, Moya advises, think of the images your words may conjure up and how they may be interpreted by different audiences. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“We have to make data emotional because emotions are what drive us to act,” says Chip Heath, a professor of organizational behavior and author of the new book, Making Numbers Count: The Art of Science of Communicating Numbers. In this interview with podcast host Matt Abrahams, Heath talks about ways that data and statistics can be used to illuminate — or obscure — our message. “A lot of people in the world don’t understand numbers like the numbers people,” he says. “And there are a lot of untranslated numbers that float around in organizations and in society.” 

Heath suggests thinking about numbers like a foreign language we need to “translate” for our audience: “If we don’t translate numbers into something that’s more tangible, we’re going to sacrifice in a big way.“ 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Eighty five percent of people report being nervous about speaking in public, and I believe the other 15% are lying,” says Matt Abrahams, lecturer in Strategic Communication and podcast host. “What is it about speaking in front of others that makes most of us nervous? Well, those of us who study this ubiquitous fear believe it is part of our human condition.” 

In this special episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Matt Abrahams returns to one of the podcast's main goals: helping people become more confident communicators. Listen to interviews with Stanford University professors who research stress as they share insights into why these feelings affect our communication, and how to overcome them. 

To find more resources on public speaking anxiety, visit stanford.io/AMP.  

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by lecturer Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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“Great founders are great storytellers,” says Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Stephanos Zenios in this “Quick Thinks” episode. Zenios is the director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and heads Startup Garage, a project-based course where teams design and test business concepts that address real-world problems. “Founders have to tell a story to their customer so that they can inspire them to test and use their new product. They have to tell a story to their employees to inspire them to take some risk. And then, they have to tell a story to investors and their board.” 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“To be creative, ideas must be both novel and useful. That’s the definition that we use in creativity research,” says Justin Berg, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. But, he warns: “Novel ideas are often not very useful and useful ideas are often not very novel.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Berg sits down with lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams to share lessons from his work on creativity, which has included conducting experiments with both movie directors and circus performers. 

“The takeaway is that we should never stop being a creator. As managers and executives climb up the organizational ladder, they may benefit from staying involved in the creative R&D side of things, rather than just spend time having ideas pitched to them.” 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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In each episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford GSB lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams asks his guests the same question: “What are the first three ingredients in a successful communication recipe?” Answers have ranged from specific and poetic, to impactful and thought-provoking. In this episode, we bring you some favorite responses, as well as Matt’s tips for solving three common communication challenges that tend to arise during the holiday season. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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"Leadership is a role that you play, like a part you play in other people’s lives. And [your] expression of that role is your responsibility as a leader,” says Stanford GSB lecturer Melissa Jones Briggs. Jones Briggs’ work combines techniques from the theater with social science research to teach lessons about power and communication. In this conversation with podcast host Matt Abrahams, she discusses how acting in a leadership position requires staying present and also knowing when to step back. 

“Power and authority often determine which stories are centered and which stories are marginalized,” Jones Briggs says. “By uncovering previously untold stories, we can create environments that invite new stories in, and that helps shape inclusive and equitable work cultures.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

Show Notes

Melissa Jones Briggs

Washington Post: Virtual work is making you talk like a business robot. Here’s how to ‘circle back’ to being human.

Kenji Yoshino, Professor of Law at New York University

Kay Kostopolous, Actor, Director, and Theater Coach

Erving Grossman, Canadian-American Sociologist

Uta Hagen, Actor and Drama Teacher

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“Social psychologists believe that if we want to understand our own behavior and the behavior of others, the first thing we have to ask or notice is, ‘What is the situation in which they are performing, in which they are behaving?’ And then we want to know as much about the situation as possible.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford emeritus psychology professor Phillip Zimbardo sits down with host Matt Abrahams to discuss how time influences our perception and our positive or negative thought processes. The two also talk about how the findings of Zimbardo’s most notable (and controversial) study — the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment — inform our understanding of human behavior. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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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. . . . opens up a whole new world of possibilities.” 

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

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Part of teamwork is dating,” says Stefanos Zenios, The Investment Group of Santa Barbara Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Operations, Information & Technology. “Dating each other to see whether you can work well together. It’s about developing how you will speak with each other in the team, how you will manage difficult conversations, and how to be respectful, but also how to help each other grow.” 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams sits down with Professor Zenios to hear more about the methods shared in the Stanford GSB project-based course Startup Garage. 

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“Stress is natural, 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, according to psychologist and associate professor at Stanford, Alia Crum. 

In this podcast episode, Crum talks with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams about her research and findings as principal investigator of the Stanford Mind and Body Lab where she is focusing on reshaping our mindset to embrace 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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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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“One of the things I think is really exciting about all this, and perhaps a little bit frightening, is nobody actually knows how to do it. It is not something that we’ve ever done before. And I’ve studied a lot of globally distributed work, and virtual teams, and so forth. But hybrid work is not that and it’s not telecommuting, which we know a bit about. But it’s something that is a mix of these multiple different modes of working,” says Pamela Hinds, Fortinet Founders Chair and professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University.

In this podcast episode, Hinds talks with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams about her research on the effect of technology on teams, teamwork, and innovation by exploring issues of culture, language, identity, and conflict in promoting knowledge sharing and collaboration. “Employees are going to expect flexibility. Organizations are going to need to sustain a higher level of flexibility with regard to when and where people work.” 

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In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford GSB Lecturer Robert Siegel sits down with Matt Abrahams to discuss the role of communication in helping businesses to adapt and transform and his new book The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical Specifically. “You have to see how things are interacting with each other. You have to see how your organization is interacting both internally and externally. And so what we found is that great systems leaders were really good at managing the narrative,” says Siegel.

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In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Sara Singer, a professor of organizational behavior (by courtesy) at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a professor of medicine at Stanford School of Medicine, sits down with lecturer Matt Abrahams to discuss the role of open communication in high-performing teams. “Learning requires leadership that reinforces learning, a supportive environment, including especially psychological safety, but also an appreciation for differences when you’re working with people of lots of different backgrounds, and openness to new ideas,” she says.

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“I say sometimes that leadership is a journey into yourself. It’s self-renewal, self-reflection, self-confidence. It’s going to bed kind of scratching your head and saying, “Man, I’m not as good,” and waking up the next morning and trying it again — and I think that’s what matters.” In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, former CEO of General Electric and Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Jeff Immelt sits down with lecturer Matt Abrahams to discuss communicating during times of challenge and pressure. “There’s no such thing as perfection of crisis,” Immelt says. “This is a pass-fail test, and all you really want to do is make progress.”

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“Simple language, forceful language, vivid language, and keeping it simple and direct,” says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, are all tools to increase the strength of your communication. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host and lecturer Matt Abrahams interviews Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Dying for a Paycheck, about the verbal and nonverbal ways we can harness, or give away, our authority in communication. 

To hear more from Jeffrey, listen to Pfeffer on Power, a podcast about accelerating your career.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“There’s no difference between the physiological response to something that you’re excited about and something that you’re nervous about or dreading,” says Andrew Huberman, associate professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University. In this podcast episode, Huberman talks with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams about his research on the autonomic continuum, a spectrum between states of very high alertness or fear, all the way down to deep sleep, and shares how to better-use the system to your advantage.  

“If people can conceptualize that the anxiety or stress response is the same as the excitement response, they feel different,” Huberman says. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Communication is such a delicate dance and kids need to emerge from childhood having practiced,” says Julie Lythcott-Haims, former associate vice provost of undergraduate education Stanford University. 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with Lythcott-Haims to discuss her new book, Your Turn: How to be an Adult, and ideas on how to communicate with young people so they feel empowered to take on the various (and often intimidating) duties of adulthood. 

“Responsibility isn’t a bad thing,” she says. “Responsibility is actually an amazing thing. And I think we have to do a better job of narrating that truth.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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It has been over a year since millions of people have switched from office work to working from home. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and host Matt Abrahams highlights guests’ top takeaways on how to best communicate, share information, and cultivate a professional presence though the screen. 

“I think we have to find ways to reduce cognitive overload,” says Professor and Senior Associate Dean Sarah Soule. “I now offer my information in much smaller pieces interspersed with breakout groups.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Communication, conflict, and cooperation are intertwined in a multitude of ways,” says Nir Halevy, associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Halevy sits down with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams, to discuss how we can often solve conflicts and disagreements by employing the correct strategy in our communication.  

“How you articulate a particular grievance, your choice of words, the nonverbal aspects of your claim, such as the tone of your voice, can definitely influence reactions to your claim,” Halevy says.  

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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The information you receive is only as strong as the questions you ask. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturers Matt Abrahams and Debra Schifrin discuss 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.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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Recognizing the importance of forging connections with others — and learning how to build those bonds in real time — is the focus of a course that’s been the most popular elective at Stanford GSB for decades: Interpersonal Dynamics. The iconic course has taught thousands of students and professionals what it means to have exceptional relationships and how to interact with others in a way that contributes to deeper, stronger connections.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with David Bradford and Carole Robin, lecturer and former lecturer of iconic Stanford GSB class Interpersonal Dynamics to discuss their new book, Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues. Both lecturers in leadership, Bradford and Robin outline what they’ve been teaching in the classroom for a broader audience.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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“Psychology trumps technology,” says Jeff Hancock, founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab and professor in the Department of Communication at Stanford.

“If you want to understand what's going on in social media, the first place to start is with what's going on psychologically.”

On the latest episode of *Think Fast, Talk Smart,* lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with Professor Hancock, to talk about the communication tendencies, styles, and mistakes of social media users. “Whenever there's a new kind of technology ... our focus is on what it's doing,” Professor Hancock says. “But I think over time what we end up realizing is that it's still people using it to accomplish things. And I think when we start to when we step back … we can get a sense of what really is changing.” 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“The reader is impatient,” says Glenn Kramon, Stanford GSB lecturer in management and editor at the New York Times. “Start with the most important conclusion and then explain how you got there.”

On the latest episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with Glenn Kramon to talk about just how important our writing is — from a lengthy report to the opening line of an email. Listen as they discuss tips on improving your writing skills and share examples of what not to do. 

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As we look back on more than 20 interviews with Think Fast, Talk Smart guests, we’ve heard one piece of advice over and again: Know Your Audience. This wisdom echoes what research clearly shows: Content that is relevant and meaningful to an audience is more likely to be heard, retained and acted upon. 

The word communication comes from the Latin for to “make common,” yet many of us start our message from the wrong place. As lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams shares in this Quick Thinks episode, by taking the time to learn about our audience and their needs, we can better craft our messages for them and be more useful, engaging and successful.

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“Something like 90 to 95% of our decisions and behaviors are constantly being shaped the non-consciously by emotional brain system.” In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Professor of Marketing Baba Shiv sits down with lecturer and host Matt Abrahams to share his research on how emotions affect our, and our audience’s, decision making. 

“You’ve got to pay careful attention to the audience that you’re talking to and allow the person to talk,” Shiv says. “Allow the person to talk because then, the person has ownership of the idea.” 

 Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Effective is being able to achieve your goals, which is important, but there are plenty of people who achieve their goals that most of us would find unworthy. So the question what does it take to be a good leader requires you to reflect on the values that you hold dear.”

In this episode of *Think Fast, Talk Smart*, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Organizational Behavior Brian Lowery sits down with lecturer and host Matt Abrahams to discuss the importance of self inquiry and an examination of one's own values in order to be effectively communicate and lead.  

“Society is not designed, really, to evoke deep thought about the fault lines in the broader community," Lowery says. "That’s not something that is going to be presented to you. It’s something that you have to look for and pay attention to.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“Knowing your values gives you a beacon, or a lamppost, that can inform how you’re going to prioritize your actions.”   

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer and Stanford University’s former Vice President of Public Affairs David Demarest speaks with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams on why knowing your values and the concerns of your stakeholders lays the foundation for any communication during a time of crisis.

Think Fast, Talk Smart *is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.*

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What way can the language we use reinforce existing stereotypes and biases?

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Sarah Soule, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Organizational Behavior sits down with lecturer and host Matt Abrahams to discuss how even the details of our word choice can shape culture, for better or worse.  

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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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 in Stanford’s department of Management Science and Engineering, sits down with podcast host and lecturer Matt Abrahams to talk about the structures of storytelling that will help become more creative communicators and 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.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

Show notes:

Creativity Rules: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World

inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity

Stanford Technology Ventures Program

Knight Hennessy Scholars program

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“In companies, you’re interacting with other people who come from different cultural contexts, and in order to be effective, you have to understand how much of your own communication and other people’s communication is shaped by their cultural ideas and their cultural values.” On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams sits down with Jeanne Tsai, an associate professor of Psychology at Stanford and director of the Culture and Emotion Lab. Jeanne’s research focuses on cultural influences on psychological and social processes related to emotion. Jeanne discusses why wearing a mask is more accepted for some cultures, and seen as prohibiting communication in others. 

“Communication is just one of the places where you really can see culture at work,” she says. “In cultural contexts that promote these more independent views of the self, the core goal of communication is to express yourself, to express those beliefs, preferences and desires that define who you are.” 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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“The less time you can spend dwelling on your mistakes, the more mental energy you can devote to doing what you need to do in that moment.” On this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Christian Wheeler, the StrataComm Professor of Management and Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School Business, sits down with podcast host and lecturer Matt Abrahams to talk about embracing failure and managing your team in-the-moment. 

“When we’re confronted with personal failure, it feels bad to us. And we work hard to try to avoid that failure, and that can often be counterproductive,” Wheeler says. “But failing is something that’s on the pathway to success.”

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication skills.

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We asked listeners to send in their communication conundrums and ended up with an inbox full of thoughtful, specific questions. 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host and Stanford GSB lecturer Matt Abrahams is joined by Shawon Jackon, MBA ’21, to share techniques on crafting written responses, dealing with constant interruptions, and confronting the power dynamics present in most communication. Shawon is the founder of Our Voices Matter, a public speaking program for high school students of color and a dual-degree student between Stanford GSB and Harvard Kennedy School. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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Knowing what to say to a skeptical audience is paramount, but how can your body language communicate empathy, openness, and power? 

In this “Quick Think” episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, we revisit Matt Abrahams’s conversation with Stanford GSB lecturer Burt Alper about how to keep body language in mind when it comes to handling objections.  

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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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 Maggie Neale (and author of Getting More of What You Want: How the Secrets of Economics and Psychology Can Help You Negotiate Anything, in Business and in Life) about what she has learned in her decades of researching negotiation and the steps that lead to more collaborative problem solving. Listen as Maggie shares tips on how to approach negotiations with intention, and what strategies can help us more easily communicate our wants and needs. 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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Most of the work we do requires coordinating and collaborating with others. But how can we ensure the benefits of working with others, while avoiding conflict that’s inherent to communicating within groups?

In this podcast episode, Matt Abrahams speaks with Bob Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford School of Engineering and GSB Professor of Organizational Behavior (by courtesy) about maximizing productivity while minimizing what he calls “friction.” “So many organizations make the right things too hard to do and the wrong things too easy,” Sutton says. “For communication, to me, a big part of a leader's job is to be clear about where people should focus attention and where they should not focus attention.” 

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Lecturer Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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Humor does more than just make people laugh. It allows you to connect with your audience, diffuse tension, elevate status, and compel others to your point of view. Humor can also help you and your message stand out, yet most of us hesitate to use humor, especially in our professional lives.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Matt Abrahams speaks with Stanford GSB Professor Jennifer Aaker and Lecturer Naomi Bagdonas about when and how humor operates in the work place. “Many believe that humor simply has no place amidst serious work,” Professor Aaker says. “Yet showing your sense of humor can make your peers and your friends attribute more perceptions of confidence and status to us while also cultivating a sense of trust.”

Aaker and Bagdonas are are the authors of Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life, which comes out in October of this year.

Think Fast, Talk Smart is a podcast produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosted by Matt Abrahams. Each episode provides concrete, easy-to-implement tools and techniques to help you hone and enhance your communication.

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Power exists in every relationship — whether we like that idea or not — and to be effective in any role, power needs to be understood. 

In this episode, Matt Abrahams sits down with Professor of Organizational Behavior Deborah Gruenfeld to discuss her new book, Acting with Power: Why We Are More Powerful Than We Believe. Deborah shares how body language can give us power, or take it from us, and advises how we can use power for good.

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We’re constantly bombarded with competing images, messaging, and bids for our attention. That's why as communicators, it’s increasingly important to know what engages people.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Matt Abrahams speaks with Stanford GSB Professor Zak Tormala about the subtle ways you can structure your speech to get people to pay attention. “It’s not really about tricking people into doing what you want,” Professor Tormala says. “It’s more about understanding the factors that actually engage people or open them up to your idea and maybe get them to see something a little bit differently.”

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Most people feel nervous in situations such as speaking in front of a class, pitching a big idea, or giving a toast, yet research-backed techniques can help manage both the symptoms and sources of our speaking jitters.

Matt Abrahams sits in the interviewee chair for this episode and talks with the podcast's producer, Jenny Luna, to share his backstory with public speaking anxiety and how by recognizing the causes of our nervousness, and applying mitigating techniques, we can gain confidence in our communication. 

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Although it may feel counter intuitive, letting go of our prepared notes and focusing on the present can help us communicate more effectively.

In this "Quick Thinks" podcast episode, host Matt Abrahams speaks with Stanford University lecturers and improv theater experts Dan Klein and Adam Tobin on how staying in the moment allows communicators to connect with their audience. 

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Having to communicate in a language other than our native tongue can be quite a challenge. In this podcast episode, host Matt Abrahams speaks with Ken Romeo, the Associate Director for the Stanford Language Center, on specific tactics and approaches non-native speakers can use to prepare for speeches or presentations. Ken also shares advice on how to handle in-the-moment challenges, improve fluency, and let go of the need for perfection.

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We've all been in the situation where you have something important to contribute to a meeting and you don't know how to insert your thoughts. On this "Quick Thinks" episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, podcast host Matt Abrahams offers the three ways to insert your ideas, either by paraphrasing, asking a question, or stating an emotion. He also outlines the "What, So What, Now What" framework and explains how to use this structure to communicate your ideas more effectively. 

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Leading successful meetings remotely and being a strong speaker on-screen require specific skills. Communicating effectively has to do with your presence, ability to leverage tools, and your audience engagement. In this Quick Thinks episode, Stanford GSB Strategic Communications lecturer Matt Abrahams shares best practices for becoming a more effective and engaging online communicator.  

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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 podcast, host Matt Abrahams and Stanford GSB lecturer Bert 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.

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What does it mean to truly master communication? How can we speak and write for the most impact? In this podcast episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturers JD Schramm and Matt Abrahams discuss how to use self reflection for self improvement. They also offer methods for preparing for a high stakes situation such as a pitch meeting or an everyday interaction like an email. 

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As communicators, we often need to take complex information (e.g., financial, technical, or scientific) and make it more understandable for our audience – we’re experts and they likely aren’t. But having so much knowledge on the topics we discuss can often make the job more difficult: we dive in too quickly, forget about our audience's needs, or use jargon that goes over their heads. 

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, strategic communications lecturers Matt Abrahams and Lauren Weinstein explore the “curse of knowledge” and offer specific techniques you can use to be more successful in getting your point across.

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How others perceive us in person and via social media can impact our careers and social standing. But we can build the reputation we want through conscious communication. On this podcast episode, strategic communication lecturers Matt Abrahams and Allison Kluger share techniques on effectively improving and managing your reputation.

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Most professional communication is spontaneous in nature: it’s providing feedback in the moment, answering questions, introducing people. On this podcast 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. Think Fast, Talk Smart is produced by Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Join Matt Abrahams, lecturer in strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he sits down with experts from across campus to discuss public speaking anxiety, speaking off the cuff, nailing a Q&A, and more.

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