Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

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.

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• Email Questions & Feedback >>> [email protected]
• Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
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• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

More resources:

How Culture Affects Communication Styles

Threatening Language

Why The Pandemic Slammed Loose Countries

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.

Connect:

• 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

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.

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.

Connect:

• 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:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:00) 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?

(00:03:51) 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?

(00:05:08) Principle 2. Structure your message. Using: What, So What, Now What.

(00:07:01) Principle 3. The Art of the Paraphrase.

(00:09:14) Using Paraphrasing to move a conversation forward

(00:11:01)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?

“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.

Connect:

• 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

Good stories win in business and life.

Every business meeting, product launch, or marketing communication has something in common with your favorite movie: they all succeed or fail based on their ability to make you feel something. Just ask Jeff Small, CEO of Amblin Partners.

"Good stories win," says Small, who leads one of the world's most renowned independent film and television companies alongside Steven Spielberg. As both a business leader and storytelling expert, Small knows that successful communication is built on person-to-person connection through the power of story. "Whatever walk of life you're in, you have to be able to tell a story to connect with people, to get across the message that you're trying to get across."

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Small joins host Matt Abrahams to share insights from his experience at the intersection of creativity and commerce, unpacking how effective storytelling can transform your communication, whether leading teams through industry disruption, resolving conflicts at work and at home, or creating films to inspire audiences for generations to come.

Episode Reference Links:

• Jeff Small
• Ep.153 Listen Up, Leaders: A Record-Setting Coach’s Guide to Communication
• Ep.35 Leading From The Hot Seat: How To Communicate Under Pressure

Connect:

• 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
• (01:13) - What Makes a Good Story?
• (02:06) - Bringing Emotion into Communication
• (02:42) - Storytelling Across Professions
• (04:46) - Crafting an Effective Story
• (06:32) - Uniqueness in Storytelling
• (07:35) - Balancing Creativity and Business
• (09:04) - Managing Conflict with Connection
• (10:53) - Screen Time and Family
• (12:33) - Navigating Industry Change
• (14:53) - The Final Three Questions
• (21:18) - Conclusion