78. Three Guiding Principles for Successful Communication

For the 75th episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast, we hosted a live "Ask Me Anything" event with host and strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams. 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.
Show Notes:
[2:00] 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?
Three guiding principles for Successful Communication
[3:51] 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?
[5:08] Principle 2. Structure your message. Using: What, So What, Now What.
[7:10] Principle 3. The Art of the Paraphrase.
[9:14] Using Paraphrasing to move a conversation forward
[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?

[@grablunchwithme]

1. Know your Audience: by Reconnaissance, Reflection and Research
a. Their knowledge level to subject matter
b. Attitude to message being delivered. (supportiveness)
c. Points of resistance, Addressing them if they will act or change.
2. Clear Goal for Communication
a. Information: What you want your audience to know?
b. Emotion: How do you want your audience to feel?
c. Action: What you want them to do?
How do you know if your communication was successful?
3. Structure Messages (package up message and call to action in logical):
a. What? What it is you are discussing. IE. Idea/process/product/service
b. So What? Why it is important to your audience.
c. Now What? What comes next. IE. Call to Action Another meeting / Show you what I'm talking about / Questions?
4. Paraphrasing (lower order cognitive skill.): Distill down information to essence or bottom line or most important takeaway to deliver back:
a. Validate accuracy of message and understanding.
b. Feeling of accomplishment for everyone.
c. Move on to next subject or message.

[@abdullahgam33]

the best podcast I like ever, I want to thank you so much.

[@benjamindover4337]

Excellent, thanks

[@NganNguyen-nd1pf]

I am on the journey of learning English. I hope that one day I could be fluent in this language

[@MadDouble1185]

haha if you can keep up with this you should be quite good already em

[@salahuddinnoorzad]

It is the really amazing and interesting teaching channel.
Regards

[@gordon4024]

很好的节目

[@bajenatuzbekova9869]

❤❤❤

[@bro_is_pro]

🔥

[@fierce10]

Memorizing and speaking twice as fast wasn't how you should interact with the audience, it was just a pre-exercise for yourself. The actual interaction should be at a normal pace. It wasn't the advice that was bad, it was the misunderstanding of the advice that made it bad.

[@anupamaanoop]

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