Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart
One of the most essential ingredients to success in business and life is effective communication.
Join Matt Abrahams, best-selling author and Strategic Communication lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he interviews experts to provide actionable insights that help you communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact. From handling impromptu questions to crafting compelling messages, Matt explores practical strategies for real-world communication challenges.
Whether you’re navigating a high-stakes presentation, perfecting your email tone, or speaking off the cuff, Think Fast, Talk Smart equips you with the tools, techniques, and best practices to express yourself effectively in any situation. Enhance your communication skills to elevate your career and build stronger professional relationships.
Tune in every Tuesday for new episodes. Subscribe now to unlock your potential as a thoughtful, impactful communicator. Learn more and sign up for our eNewsletter at fastersmarter.io.
Join Matt Abrahams, best-selling author and Strategic Communication lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he interviews experts to provide actionable insights that help you communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact. From handling impromptu questions to crafting compelling messages, Matt explores practical strategies for real-world communication challenges.
Whether you’re navigating a high-stakes presentation, perfecting your email tone, or speaking off the cuff, Think Fast, Talk Smart equips you with the tools, techniques, and best practices to express yourself effectively in any situation. Enhance your communication skills to elevate your career and build stronger professional relationships.
Tune in every Tuesday for new episodes. Subscribe now to unlock your potential as a thoughtful, impactful communicator. Learn more and sign up for our eNewsletter at fastersmarter.io.
Episodes
Mentioned books
219 snips
Feb 19, 2026 • 23min
265. Complexity to Connection: Humanizing High-Stakes Communication
Phil Polakoff, a Stanford health transformation advisor focused on equity and systems change, and Jonathan Berek, a gynecological oncologist and storyteller, discuss turning complex medical moments into human connection. They explore storytelling, leveling language to meet audiences, empathy and listening as trust builders, and concise, memorable messaging for high-stakes communication.
171 snips
Feb 16, 2026 • 24min
264. Show Your Receipts: Communicating in a Post-Truth World
Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author who decodes geopolitics for broad audiences. He discusses why curiosity opens conversations. He talks about facts in a fractured information landscape. He covers persuading across divides, communicating on camera, and how teens can rebuild social skills.
606 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 21min
263. Smart Isn’t the Same as Clear: How to Sharpen Your Ideas
Nick Thompson, journalist and CEO of The Atlantic and accomplished competitive runner, discusses why clarity and authenticity matter more than cleverness. He talks about finding an authentic voice across formats. He explains how heavy editing, reading aloud, and simple tests shape sticky ideas. He also connects running’s discipline to better writing and leadership.
417 snips
Feb 9, 2026 • 25min
262. Own the Room: How Voice, Breath, and Body Work Together
Patsy Rodenburg, world-renowned voice and presence coach who trained actors and leaders, shares how to reclaim your natural speaking power. She explores breath and body alignment, practical vocal warm-ups, using physical space to connect, and quick tools to calm nerves. Short, actionable guidance on inhabiting a room and making your voice resonate.
561 snips
Feb 5, 2026 • 23min
261. Meetings With a Point: How to Design For Better Decisions
Rebecca Hinds, future-of-work expert and author who founded the Work Innovation Lab at Asana, shares how to stop defaulting to meetings and design them with purpose. She explains treating meetings like a product, the 4D CEO test for when synchronous time matters, and memo-first practices that boost readiness. Practical frameworks for intentional length, cadence, agendas, and a calendar cleanse to cut bloat.
260 snips
Feb 2, 2026 • 22min
260. From Role To Soul: The Four Ingredients For Mastering Meaning
Bill Burnett, Stanford Life Design Lab director and design-thinking professor, and Dave Evans, co-founder of the Lab and product design lecturer, share practical approaches to crafting a meaningful life. They discuss purpose as direction, the compass and coherence tools, prototyping futures with odyssey plans, and the four ingredients of meaning: coherence, wonder, flow, and community.
260 snips
Jan 29, 2026 • 21min
259. Quick Thinks: Task-Focused to People-Focused—A Smarter Way to Communicate
Megan Reitz, leadership researcher at Oxford who studies speaking up and psychological safety. She contrasts narrow task-focused attention with spacious attention that fosters connection. The conversation covers why teams get stuck in doing mode, how to build agility between modes, and practical moves to name spaciousness, invite dissent, and keep people speaking up.
229 snips
Jan 26, 2026 • 27min
258. When Power Talks, People Walk: Why Leaders Don’t Hear What Matters Most
Megan Reitz, an associate fellow and leadership scholar who studies workplace communication and power, discusses how conversational habits shape ethics, innovation, and engagement. She explains the T.R.U.T.H. framework and how titles and status shift who gets heard. She names common leader power traps and practical ways leaders can train attention to invite more voices.
257 snips
Jan 19, 2026 • 24min
257. Move Your Audience: Lessons From MLK You Should Use
Lerone Martin, the Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professor at Stanford, dives deep into the art of communication inspired by MLK. He reveals how even King struggled initially with public speaking and practiced tirelessly, including rehearsing in front of a mirror. The discussion explores King's techniques, such as narrative structure and vocal musicality, that captivated audiences. Martin emphasizes the need for conviction and authenticity in communication, urging young people to hone their skills to inspire change in their communities.
418 snips
Jan 15, 2026 • 25min
256. Be Kind: The Most Overlooked Driver of Success
Bonnie Hayden Cheng, a management professor at City University of Hong Kong, digs into the transformative power of kindness in workplaces. She introduces the 'Return on Kindness' metric, showing how kind cultures lead to happier, more productive employees. Cheng shares her RISE framework, highlighting role modeling and supportive actions as keys to kind leadership. The discussion contrasts kindness with niceness and emphasizes the importance of honest, compassionate feedback. Overall, it’s a powerful guide to fostering a culture of kindness that benefits everyone.
