Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

“Sleep is essential to good performance and good communication.”
A good night's sleep can make all the difference in how we think, feel, and communicate. But for anyone who struggles to fall asleep, worrying about getting enough rest can become part of the problem. In this Quick Thinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Matt Abrahams shares his personal struggles with sleep and the strategies that have helped him rest easier. Drawing on advice from past guests, including Cheri Mah and Andrew Huberman, Matt introduces his ABCDE framework for better sleep, offering practical tips for managing bedtime anxiety, calming a racing mind, and building healthier sleep habits so you can show up at your best.

Takeaways:
  • Better sleep starts with managing your mind. Journaling, reframing negative thoughts, and practicing deep breathing can help reduce bedtime anxiety and quiet a racing mind.
  • Small changes can make a big difference in sleep quality. Limiting caffeine, creating a comfortable sleep environment, and maintaining a consistent bedtime routine can help you rest better and show up more effectively in your daily communication.

Activity:
  • Quiet your mind. Before bed tonight, spend five minutes writing down anything that's worrying you, followed by three things you're grateful for. Notice whether getting your thoughts onto paper helps you feel more relaxed and ready for sleep.

Episode Reference Links:
Connect:

 Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (01:04) - A: Managing Emotions
  • (01:53) - B: Building Better Sleep Habits
  • (02:37) - C: Managing Your Thoughts
  • (03:34) - D: Deep Breathing Techniques
  • (04:23) - E: Creating the Right Sleep Environment
  • (05:24) - Conclusion

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Creators and Guests

Host
Matt Abrahams
Lecturer Stanford University Graduate School of Business | Think Fast Talk Smart podcast host

What is Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques?

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.

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Communication hygiene, proper
nutrition, exercise, and sleep can

make a huge difference in your success.

I'm Matt Abrahams, and I teach
Strategic Communication at Stanford

Graduate School of Business.

Welcome to this Quick Thinks episode
of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast.

Of the three components of communication
hygiene, sleep is my nemesis.

As long as I can remember,
I've been a bad sleeper.

And after our episode 287 with sleep
doctor Cheri Mah, many of you shared

that you struggle with sleep too.

So I thought I would pass along what
I've learned about getting better

sleep that has helped me a little bit.

Some comes from my experience,
and others come from advice I've

received over our many Think
Fast, Talk Smart episode guests.

I'd like to organize this
around the ABCDE of good sleep.

So let's get started with A, affect.

How you feel.

Because I know I'm a bad sleeper, I
often get stressed about going to bed

and worrying about not sleeping, and
thus having a bad day when I wake up.

To help counter this worry, I journal.

Part of my journaling focuses
on what I'm worrying about.

I find getting it out on paper
helps remove it from my mind.

I also follow the advice of Sonja
Lyubomirsky, who shared in episode 274

that gratitude journaling can really help.

So I write down things I'm
thankful for, and this also

dials down my worry about sleep.

Finally, I try to ground myself
physically by feeling my body on the bed.

Focusing on the physical helps
me stop the negative feelings.

Moving from affect, A, to B, behavioral.

To help me prepare for sleep,
I follow Dr. Mah's advice and

limit my caffeine intake and stop
drinking it early in the afternoon.

I also am fortunate enough to be able
to take quick power naps, and I do

this around 2:00 every day for about
15 minutes, and I awaken refreshed.

Before bed, I like to do some
light stretching to relax my body.

I take a warm shower.

It also helps a lot.

And as I shared with Frances Frei
in episode 109, I like to watch five

minutes of comedy before I go to bed.

Laughing helps me feel more relaxed,
and it puts a smile on my face.

From affect to behavior to C, cognition.

My thoughts can get in
the way of my sleep.

Turning off my brain is really hard.

Nir Eyal helped me come
up with a mantra I like.

In episode 270, he suggested saying,
"The body knows what the body needs." I

find this takes a lot of pressure off me.

My body knows what it needs, and
if it needs sleep, it'll get it.

I also use a technique
called cognitive disruption.

Here's how it plays out for me.

I take an eight or nine-letter word, and
I try to make 10 words from that word.

Often they're smaller, and I
find this refocuses my brain.

It gets me out of my own way.

Finally, I remind myself of Dr.
Mah's reframing of sleep not as the

end of today, but the beginning of
tomorrow, and it gets me excited.

It changes the way I approach it all.

So we have the A, the B, the
C, and now the D. D is one

technique, and one technique only.

D stands for deep breathing.

This gets its own call-out
because it's so important.

Breathwork can really help calm you down.

When Andrew Huberman was on the show,
he taught us many different powers

of breath and the way to do it.

This was all in episode 33,
and you can check it out.

The technique I like to use is box
breathing, where you inhale for a certain

count, hold for that same count, exhale on
that count, and then hold and start over.

I like to do a count of 6.

So we've talked about affect, behavior,
cognition, and deep breathing.

The final of these techniques
is the environment.

I try to keep my room nice and cool.

Being too hot makes it
hard for me to go to sleep.

I like to take as much light out of the
space as possible and keep things quiet.

I put my phone outside the room.

Taken together, the A, B, C,
D, E's of sleep hygiene really

help me to sleep better.

It's a lot of steps.

I don't do each and every one every night,
but I know I can rely on them to help me.

Finally, if you go to bed and wake up
at the same time each night, you'll

be better off because that habit
gets ingrained, and you'll do better.

Sleep is essential to good
performance and good communication.

It is my hope that some of these
techniques that help me will

help you in your sleep and your
sleep communication hygiene.

Have a good night.

Thanks for joining us for this
Quick Thinks episode of Think

Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast.

Please check out more of our back catalog
items to find helpful information.

This episode was produced by Katherine
Reed, Alex McCarthy, Ryan Campos,

and me, Matt Abrahams, with special
thanks to the Stanford GSB video team.

Our music is from Floyd Wonder.

And thank you to Podium Podcast Company.

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