Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, every Tuesday as he sits down with experts in the field to discuss real-world challenges. How do I send my message clearly when put on the spot? How do I write emails to get my point across? How can I easily convey complex information? How do I manage my reputation? Whether you’re giving a toast or presenting in a meeting, communication is critical to success in business and in life. Think Fast ...
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163. Is Your Audience Ignoring You? How Authenticity Creates Connection
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How acceptance and authenticity can transform all of our interactions. What’s the key to experiencing deeper connection in our communication? According to Alan Alda, it starts with acceptance — of others and ourselves. "Connecting, communicating, and clarity," Alda explains, "they're all based on hearing what the other person is really saying; lett…
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162. Unlock Career Opportunities: How to Make the Right Moves
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Being present in the moment and staying open to whatever unfolds. We all want to lead lives and careers full of joy and fulfillment. Maggie Baird certainly has, and the key, she says, is to stay open to new possibilities and “let your passion lead.” Baird is an accomplished actress, improv teacher at the Groundlings Theater, mother to music sensati…
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Bonus: How to Manage Speaking Anxiety the Think Faster, Talk Smarter Way
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Gain control over your speaking and excel in your communication. For the first anniversary of his book Think Faster, Talk Smarter, Matt Abrahams shares strategies from the first chapter, focusing on managing speaking anxiety and improving spontaneous communication. Through personal anecdotes and practical techniques, he explains how to handle unexp…
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161. Do Your Homework: Know What to Say by Knowing Who You’re Talking To
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Know your audience and tailor the message for them. In high-stakes communication, every word counts. For Jen Psaki, that means knowing who she’s talking to — so she knows just what to say. As the former White House Press Secretary and current host of Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC, Psaki has discovered that communication isn’t about “saying the mos…
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160. Best of: How to Communicate Your Gameplan
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Why organizational strategy can be both top-down and bottom-up. As Professor Jesper Sørensen sees it, a winning strategy is the result of conversations, not commands, and that 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…
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159. Earn Your Audience: You Can’t Lead If No One’s Listening
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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…
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158. Hope for Cynics: Building Trusting Relationships through Communication
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“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 Neuroscien…
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157. Communicating the Future: Defining Where We Want AI to Take Us
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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…
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156. Creative Communication: How Our Design Choices Illustrate Our Values
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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 f…
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155. Can We Be Candid? How to Communicate Clearly and Directly
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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 communic…
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154. Best of: Communicating Better as a Leader
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"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 S…
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153. Listen Up, Leaders: A Record-Setting Coach’s Guide to Communication
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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 …
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152. Fix Your Communication: Why It’s About Connection Over Perfection
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“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 Schoo…
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151. Get Hired: How the Right Communication Can Advance Your Career
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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 n…
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150. Communication Tips from the Classroom and Around the World
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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 c…
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149. Best of: How to Take Risks in Your Communication, Relationships, and Career
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“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 speechwriter and author Dan Pink. “I think it’s because we are slightly over-indexed on risk. We overstate the risk in many circumstances.” In this episode of Think F…
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148. Conviction and Compassion: How to Have Hard Conversations
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In our personal and professional lives, some conversations are harder than others. To navigate the difficulties of discussing what matters most, Professor Irv Grousbeck says we need the right balance of conviction and compassion. At both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford School of Medicine, Grousbeck teaches courses on managing diff…
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147. Disrupt Yourself: How to Innovate Who You Are and Become Who You Can Be
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Innovation and disruption aren’t just for organizations. According to Whitney Johnson, we can find new possibilities for personal and professional growth — by disrupting ourselves. As an executive coach, author, and podcaster, Johnson teaches people how to level up their lives and careers through the power of personal disruption. Her book, Disrupt …
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146. Stress Resets: How to Change Your Internal Dialogue to Communicate Better
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Stress can get in the way of our communication with others. To manage our stress, psychologist Jenny Taitz says, we first need to adjust the conversations that we have with ourselves. Taitz is an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of several books, including Stress Resets: How to …
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145. Best of: The Art of Negotiation, How to Get More of What You Want
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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 Thi…
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144. Communicating Through Conflict: How to Get Along with Anyone
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Many of us would rank getting along with colleagues as an important aspect of work, but, as Amy Gallo explains, relationships devoid of disagreement can actually be less productive. “While our natural human instinct is to avoid conflict, I believe that conflicts are not only an inevitable part of interacting with other humans, but they're a necessa…
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143. Adopting a VC Mindset: How to Achieve More by Thinking, and Communicating, Like a Venture Capitalist
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In choosing who to date, what job to pursue, or how to invest our money, most people are just looking for a reason to move forward. But according to Professor Ilya Strebulaev, we should be looking for something else: a reason to bail. "The smartest venture capitalists ask a very different question from what most of us ask," says Strebulaev. Instead…
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142. Power and Persuasion: Live Insights from Stanford Experts
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A special live edition from the Me2We event at Stanford, where strategic communications expert and podcast host Matt Abrahams joins four distinguished faculty members from Stanford Graduate School of Business: Michelle Gelfand explores the dynamics of cross-cultural organizational behavior. Brian Lowery discusses the societal implications of racial…
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141. An Invitation for Innovation: Why Creativity Is Found, Not Forced
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So you want to lead your team toward innovation. Does that require that you know where you’re going? Not according to Linda Hill. Hill is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School whose research focuses on leadership and how organizations achieve innovation. When it comes to generating breakthrough ideas, Hill says it’s less…
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140. Best of: How to Handle a Skeptical Audience
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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 a…
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139. Lose Yourself: The Secret to Finding Flow and Being Fully Present
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Whether you're looking to boost your productivity, find more joy in your work, or simply be more present in the moment, you need flow — and research by Assistant Professor David Melnikoff could help you find it. Melnikoff investigates how we pursue our goals, and how flow — the state of being totally immersed and engaged in what we’re doing — can h…
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138. Speak Your Truth: Why Authenticity Leads to Better Communication
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From the way you communicate, to the way build your life and career, Graham Weaver, MBA ’99, says it’s about “giving yourself permission to fully be yourself. You can never go wrong when you’re saying your truth.” Weaver is a lecturer in management, a GSB alum, and the founder and a partner of Alpine Investors. He stresses the importance of direct …
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137. When Words Aren’t Enough: How to Excel at Nonverbal Communication
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If communication is like painting, words are the primary colors. But to convey deeper meaning, we need a broader color palette, which Dana Carney says requires the mastery of nonverbal communication. We often focus on the words that we say when honing our communication, but according to Carney, there are many instances “where nonverbals start to be…
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136. The Art of Disagreeing Without Conflict: Navigating the Nuance
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Disagreement and conflict may look the same on the surface, but the two concepts are, in fact, very different. According to Julia Minson, knowing how these notions differ is crucial to how you approach them. In this episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, Minson and strategic communication lecturer Matt Abrahams delve into the intricacies of conflict and…
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135. Best of: The Personal and Professional Power of Emotional Awareness
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Why deep connection with others starts by connecting more deeply with ourselves. How are you feeling right now? According to Celine Teoh, we all need to ask ourselves that question more often — and be more precise in how we answer it. Teoh is a facilitator of the course Interpersonal Dynamics, one of Stanford Graduate School of Business’s most icon…
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134. How to Chat with Bots: The Secrets to Getting the Information You Need from AI
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Leveraging AI to unlock new levels of creativity and communication innovation Join Matt Abrahams with creativity and innovation experts Jeremy Utley and Kian Gohar to explore the transformative potential of AI in the realms of creativity and problem-solving. If you treat artificial intelligence like an oracle, you’ll likely be disappointed. But if …
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133. From Good to Super: How Supercommunicators Unlock the Language of Connection
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The ways supercommunicators operate and how to emulate their techniques. Across more than 130 episodes, Think Fast, Talk Smart has touched a lot on what it takes to be a good communicator. But what about reaching that next level? What about being a “supercommunicator”? Supercommunicator is a term used by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author…
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132. Lean Into Failure: How to Make Mistakes That Work
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Effective and productive teams and relationships are based on the ability to communicate safely and to fail successfully. In this episode, Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, shares profound insights on the different types of failure—basic, complex, and intelligen…
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131. Friction Fixing: How to Use Obstacles to Your Advantage
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Why resistance isn’t always a bad thing. Friction — that’s Professor Huggy Rao’s metaphor for the forces that hamper workplace efficiency. But as he says, some friction can be helpful — if you know how to use it. In his book, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, Rao and coauthor Robert I.…
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130. Best Of: How to Maintain a Powerful Presence in Your Communication
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“Simple language, forceful language, vivid language, and keeping it simple and direct,” says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, are all powerful tools to strengthen your communication. Host and Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Matt Abrahams interviews Pfeffer, the author many books, including Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't, ab…
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129. Connect Deeply: How to Communicate So People Feel Seen and Heard
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New York Times Opinion columnist David Brooks shares how to communicate so that others feel seen, heard, and understood. All too often, we communicate without really connecting. The key to building deep connections with others, says David Brooks, is to make them feel seen and heard. Brooks is a writer for the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the b…
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128. Four Powerful Principles, Pt 2: Your Questions Answered
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Matt takes live questions from his worldwide audience. Join Matt Abrahams engaging with his international audience and answering questions that touch upon some of today's most pressing communication challenges. Matt offers advice on everything from the nuances of crafting clear, impactful questions and navigating emotional dynamics in group setting…
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127. Four Principles of Powerful, Focused Communication, Pt. 1
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Matt takes live questions from his worldwide audience and shares a lesson around concision, relevance, accessibly, and precision in messaging. In this "masterclass," he emphasizes the communicator's role as a translator who simplifies complex information for diverse audiences. Key takeaways include the careful use of analogies, considering cultural…
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126. Making Meetings Meaningful, BONUS: When Face-to-Face Meetings Matter
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If we want to generate better ideas, then we need to get people back to the office. In this bonus meetings mini-series episode, we feature an episode from the newest podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business – If/Then: Business, Leadership, Society. In this conversation with senior editor Kevin Cool, Professor of Marketing and former TFTS g…
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Whether you’re giving a toast or presenting in a meeting, communication is critical to success in business and in life. Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he sits down with experts in the field to discuss real-world communication challenges. How do I send my message clearly when put…
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125. Making Meetings Meaningful, Pt. 2: Key Ingredients for Effective Meetings
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How can we make meetings more effective? How can we keep people engaged and interested? Whether it’s in person or on Zoom, here are a few techniques you can use to make your gatherings more meaningful, productive, and memorable. Get practical tools and actionable insights to actually make meetings matter, as well as knowing when NOT to have a meeti…
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124. Making Meetings Meaningful, Pt. 1: How to Structure and Organize More Effective Gatherings
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Delve into why people hate meetings, explore what hinders their effectiveness, and how to change that. Karin Reed (Emmy Award winner) and Joe Allen (“The Meeting Doctor”) join Matt Abrahams in the first of a two-part series that aims to reshape your approach to meetings and help you make them effective and meaningful, whether in person, virtual or …
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123. Best Of: Why Curiosity Is Communication’s Secret Weapon
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The information you receive is only as strong as the questions you ask. This week we revisit Matt's discussion with Debra Schifrin about 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 per…
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122. How To Be More Confident and Calm in Your Communication: Managing the "ABC’s" of Communication Anxiety
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Research-backed techniques on how to beat nervousness in the moment. In this episode, Matt uses clips from experts from previous TFTS episodes to provide you with several communication anxiety management techniques to help you feel more comfortable and confident when you communicate. And as a guide to help us learn these techniques, he introduces t…
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121. Building Trust and Connection: How to Lead with Vulnerability
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We have to be vulnerable in order to build trust in our relationships. But as Jacob Morgan says, “Vulnerability for leaders is not the same as it is for everybody else.” In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Morgan shares with host Matt Abrahams his “vulnerable leadership equation” and how leaders can use it to transform the way they interact …
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120. A Few of Matt’s Favorite Things: 10 Communication Takeaways from 2023's TFTS Episodes
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Matt reflects on all the advice we've heard this season and shares the top 10 takeaways that he’s applying to his own communication: Connect: Email Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.io Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedI…
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119. Best Of: How to Embrace the Benefits of Stress
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“Stress is natural,” says Alia Crum, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford. “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.” In this episode of Think Fast, Tal…
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118. Maximizing your Personal Brand: Communicating Who You Are to Help Get What You Want
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What comes to people’s minds when they think about you, and can you control it? Dorie Clark says you can — with the power of your personal brand. According to Clark, “You have brand equity in your own life.” Your personal brand or reputation, she says, “makes things either easier or harder for you” as you pursue your personal and professional goals…
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117. Say It, See It: How to Connect Through Conversation
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Communication is about so much more than sharing words. As neuroscientist Shane O’Mara explains, communication is about sharing reality. According to O’Mara, “A conversation is where we create a shared reality together.” As a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin, his research has focused on how human brains sync up thr…
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116. Quick Thinks: Don't Sweat the Small Talk
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Even if you don’t think you’re a natural, anyone can become proficient at the art of small talk by utilizing the right tactics and behaviors. In this collaboration with Harvard Business Review, strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams shares his tips and techniques for cocktail party chit chat, networking small talk, and holiday dinner-table…
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