139. Lose Yourself: The Secret to Finding Flow and Being Fully Present

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 Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes. According to her, much of the stress we experience is self-created through negative thought patterns and harsh self-criticism. “We're doing this to ourselves all the time,” she says. But as we become aware of these unhelpful mental loops, Taitz’ “resets” can help us disrupt them and reframe self-talk in more productive waysIn addition to changing our self-talk, Taitz offers tools for refreshing our communication with others. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, she and host Matt Abrahams explore her G.I.V.E. framework — how being gentle, interested, validating, and easy-mannered equips us for more positive conversations with ourselves and othersEpisode Reference Links:Jenny TaitzJenny’s Book: Stress Resets Ep.69 Feeling Nervous? How Anxiety Can Fuel Better CommunicationEp.122 How To Be More Confident and Calm in Your Communication: Managing the "ABC’s" of Communication Anxiety Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

11 Juni 202422min

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 Margaret Neale about what she has learned in her decades of researching negotiation and the steps that lead to more collaborative problem-solving. Listen as Neale shares tips on how to approach negotiations with intention, and what strategies can help us more easily communicate our wants and needs. She is the coauthor of Getting (More of) What You Want: How the Secrets of Economics and Psychology Can Help You Negotiate Anything, in Business and in Life.Episode Reference Links:Margaret Ann Neale Margaret's Book: Getting (More of) What You WantOriginal Episode: Ep.15 The Art of Negotiation: How to Get More of What You WantConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

4 Juni 202416min

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 necessary part.”Gallo is a workplace expert, host of HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and the author of Getting Along: How to Work With Anyone. Across her work, Gallo touts that the key to transforming conflicts into something productive is to understand its root cause and learn how to reframe them. “Even at the base of those unhealthy conflicts or those unproductive conflicts is something that needs to be resolved,” she says. In her conversation with host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams, Gallo provides useful frameworks and new concepts on how we can approach conflicts at work.  Episode Reference Links:Amy GalloAmy Gallo’s Book: Getting Along: How to Work With AnyoneAmy Gallo’s Podcast: Women at WorkEp.132 Lean Into Failure: How to Make Mistakes That WorkConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

28 Maj 202424min

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 of asking “‘Why should we invest?’, venture capitalists approach every new opportunity with [the] question: Why should we not proceed?” This contrarian mindset is at the heart of Strebulaev's new book The Venture Mindset, which reveals how the strategies of top VCs can help anyone make sharper decisions. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Strebulaev joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how the venture mindset can help anyone — investor or not — weigh alternatives, make decisions, and move forward without looking back.Episode Reference Links:Ilya StrebulaevIlya’s Book: The Venture Mindset Ep.41 Speak Like a Founder: How Successful Entrepreneurs Communicate to Their TeamsEp.56 Lean Messaging: How Simple Messages Really StickConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

21 Maj 202423min

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 perceptions.Deborah Gruenfeld reveals insights into power dynamics and personal presence.Zakary Tormala delves into the nuances of persuasive language.Episode Reference Links:Michelle Gelfand’s Book: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World Michelle Gelfand's Tight-Loose QuizBrian Lowery’s Book: Selfless: The Social Creation of "You" Deborah Gruenfeld’s Book: Acting With Power: Why We Are More Powerful Than We Believe Ep.67 What is Normal? How Culture Affects Communication StylesEp.84 Quick Thinks: How Others Define UsEp.11 The Science of Influence: How to Persuade Others and Hold Their AttentionEp.12 It’s Not What You Say It’s How You Say It: How to Communicate Power Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

14 Maj 202434min

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 about a creative vision and more about stepping into the unknown. “Innovation [is] not about an individual coming up with a new idea,” she says. “Instead, innovation is the result of the collaboration of people with diverse expertise and diverse perspectives coming together, being able to collaborate, being able to experiment together and learn.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Hill and host Matt Abrahams discuss how leaders can foster cultures and environments where innovation thrives — where teams use communication and collaboration to “co-create the future.”Episode Reference Links:Linda HillLinda's books: Collective Genius / Being the Boss / Becoming a ManagerConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

7 Maj 202424min

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 episode, host Matt Abrahams and Stanford GSB lecturer Burt 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.Episode Reference Links:Burt AlperEp.102 Create a Presence: How to Communicate in a Way Others Can FeelEp.70 Keep ’Em Coming: Why Your First Ideas Aren’t Always the BestOriginal Episode: Ep.5 From Monologue to Dialogue: How to Handle a Skeptical AudienceConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn,  Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn *****Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Think Fast Talk Smart listeners can get started on your language learning journey today- visit Babbel.com/Thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription.Support Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.

30 Apr 202417min