Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

What it takes to develop as a leader.

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

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction

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Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

There’s a lot in the world to make us cynical about other people and their motives and intentions. But by “trusting loudly,” Professor Jamil Zaki believes we can renew our faith in one another.

Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford, director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience lab, and author of several books, including his most recent, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. While many people feel suspicious of others and are reluctant to trust them, Zaki finds that relying on other people is a necessary part of forming relationships.

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

• Fixable Podcast
• Anne Morriss
• Frances Frei

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be. 

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

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

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

Episode Reference Links:

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

Connect:

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

********
Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.

Strawberry.me. Get 50% off your first coaching session today at Strawberry.me/smart

Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be.