Reframe the calendar invite from a logistical tool to a strategic one. Instead of just a title and URL, include the meeting's core goal, expectations for participants, or a specific question to be addressed. This sets the stage before anyone joins, ensuring attendees arrive prepared and focused on the objective.
Stanford's Matt Abrahams recommends a simple daily habit for improving communication: spend one minute before bed writing down one communication interaction that went well and one that didn't. This practice of consistent, low-effort reflection forces self-awareness and leads to incremental, long-term improvement.
When preparing a speech, define your goal across three dimensions: Information (what they should know), Emotion (what they should feel), and Action (what they should do). Most people only focus on information, but specifying a desired emotional state and a clear, measurable action makes communication far more persuasive and impactful.
To become a better listener, shift your goal from simply hearing to being able to accurately paraphrase what the other person said. This forces you to listen more deeply for the core message (“the bottom line”) rather than just the surface-level words (“the top line”), leading to greater understanding and connection.
To manage public speaking anxiety, communication expert Matt Abrahams advises focusing on deep belly breathing where your exhale is twice as long as your inhale. Just two or three of these breaths can slow your nervous system, lower your heart rate, and normalize your voice, providing an immediate calming effect.
Stanford communication expert Matt Abrahams advises against starting pitches with a team bio slide. Instead, immediately present the core idea and its value proposition to grab the audience's attention. Save your team's qualifications for after you've established the problem and solution, once the audience is already invested.
If you lose your train of thought while speaking, deploy a pre-planned “back pocket question.” You can ask the audience to reflect on a point (“Let’s pause and think about how this impacts your life”) or ask a broad meta-question. This distracts them and buys you a crucial moment to recover your thoughts.
When an interviewer asks if you have questions, turn it back on them by asking, “What’s a question I should have asked you?” or “What do you wish you had known when interviewing?” This tactic demonstrates deep curiosity, a desire to understand the role's true challenges, and makes a memorable impression.