Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

“If you're worried that a ChatGPT type tool can replace you, you need to [ask]: Why am I communicating? What am I trying to say? Am I being authentic?”
Artificial intelligence can now do a lot of things. But if you’re worried about it taking your place as a communicator, Russ Altman says you need to question why you’re communicating in the first place. A Stanford professor of bioengineering and host of Stanford Engineering’s podcast, The Future of Everything, Altman sees advancing technology not as a threat to human creativity and connection, but as a tool for raising our standards for communication. In this Rethinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Altman and Matt Abrahams discuss how effective communication can help us articulate ideas, strengthen connections, and navigate toward the future we want.

Takeaways:
  • AI works best as an amplifier, not a replacement. Using AI to test, refine, and adapt your ideas can make communication clearer while keeping your purpose, judgment, and authentic message at the center.
  • Make complexity easier to understand, not less meaningful. Stories, analogies, and audience-aware language can translate difficult ideas without dumbing them down.

Activity:
  • Treat questions as gifts. The next time someone questions your idea, resist the urge to defend it. Instead, thank them and ask one follow-up question to better understand their perspective before responding.

Episode Reference Links:
Connect:

 Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (01:41) - AI and Communication
  • (03:46) - AI as a Feedback Tool
  • (04:48) - Structuring a Strong Proposal
  • (06:48) - Simplifying Complex Ideas
  • (09:12) - Preparing for Tough Topics
  • (10:53) - Asking Better Questions
  • (13:43) - Building Stronger Teams
  • (16:21) - Productive Conflict
  • (17:53) - Finding People’s Passion
  • (18:43) - The Final Three Questions
  • (22:06) - Conclusion

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Creators and Guests

Host
Matt Abrahams
Lecturer Stanford University Graduate School of Business | Think Fast Talk Smart podcast host
Guest
Russ Altman
Professor of Bioengineering, of Genetics, of Medicine, of Biomedical Data Science

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.

Tune in every Tuesday for new episodes. Subscribe now to unlock your potential as a thoughtful, impactful communicator. Learn more and sign up for our eNewsletter at fastersmarter.io.

Matt Abrahams: AI is changing how
we work, think, and communicate.

As these tools become more
capable, knowing how to use them

effectively matters more than ever.

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

Graduate School of Business.

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

We're opening up the vault to
revisit my conversation with

Stanford Professor Russ Altman.

Listen in as we explore how AI can help
us communicate more clearly, sharpen

our thinking, and solve problems
more effectively, while reminding

us why human judgment, curiosity,
and connection remain essential.

Connection and the ability to explain
where we are and where we need to go is

critical for success in communication.

My name is Matt Abrahams, and I
teach Strategic Communication at

Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Welcome to Think Fast,
Talk Smart, the podcast.

Today I'm excited to
speak with Russ Altman.

Russ is a professor of bioengineering
at Stanford University.

His primary research interests are in
the application of AI and data science

to problems relevant to medicine.

Russ is also the host of
Stanford Engineering's The

Future of Everything podcast.

Welcome, Russ.

I'm a big fan of your podcast and really
enjoyed the opportunity we had earlier

today where I was a guest on your show.

Russ Altman: Thanks so much.

Thanks for having me.

I share enthusiasm for this
podcast, and it's kind of a thrill.

I think it might be my first podcast as
a guest, and it couldn't be a better one.

Matt Abrahams: Oh, well,
thank you, and I'm excited for

the, what we're about to do.

You ready to get started?

Russ Altman: Yes.

Matt Abrahams: Excellent.

Each of your podcast episode
titles starts with The Future Of.

So let me start by asking you for your
thoughts on the future of communication,

especially how AI plays out in it.

Russ Altman: So first of all, I'm
glad you mentioned that I had you on

my podcast because the answer is you
told me the future of communication.

But I actually thought
about it before we chatted.

I'm an AI enthusiast.

I use AI in my research.

I'm part of the Human-Centered
AI Institute at Stanford.

AI in general has exposed lots of
things that were hidden in our society.

So a lot of people hear about bias and
unfairness, and that is a problem with AI.

On the other hand, it was a problem
before, and in some ways we need

to give AI credit for exposing the
unfairness and giving us something

that we can work on to try to improve.

And the reason I mention this
is I think for communication, in

some ways it's the same answer.

If you're worried that a ChatGPT type
tool can replace you, I think you need

to think about why am I communicating?

What am I trying to say?

Am I being authentic?

Do I have a message?

Because really, if those things are
true, it shouldn't be a problem.

It should actually just help you
amplify and improve your message.

So I think that we're at a time now
where people have to ask hard questions

about why they're communicating
and how they communicate, and I

think that the AI is bringing these
issues to the fore that were kind

of insidiously in the background.

So you can see I'm an AI optimist,
and I think this will help.

Matt Abrahams: I also think AI can
bring a lot of value to communication.

And, and I really like your
response that the thing to worry

about is, do I have a clear goal?

Do I know what, uh, is important to say?

And how can I craft it
in a way to be helpful?

And I think AI can be an assistant in it.

For example, I have many
non-native speaking students.

AI's a wonderful tool to help them
learn some of the vernacular and learn

other options for ways of saying things.

Russ Altman: It is interesting how good
it is when you say, "Please explain this

at the level of an eighth grader or at
the level of a high school student."

And I think that's something we all can
get better at because understanding who

your audience is and then making sure
you're delivering at the right level is

always a challenge, and that seems to
be one thing that it's kind of good at.

Matt Abrahams: Absolutely, and you
can actually use it to flag jargon and

terms that others might not understand.

You mentioned that you happen
to use it in your communication.

Do you mind sharing some
of the ways you use it?

Russ Altman: My favorite story, if I
may, was I had written a grant proposal,

and I ran the one-page summary of the
grant through the, uh, large language

model, and I said, "Please summarize the
strengths and weaknesses of this summary

of my research that I'm about to submit
to the National Institutes of Health for,

for research dollars." And it came back,
and it had a few, you know, pretty good

positives and negatives, but my favorite
negative is it said, "You seem to be

leaning on prior accomplishments too
heavily." And it was absolutely right.

So I've used it as like,
as a pre-human screen.

Before I go to my colleagues even,
even my trusted colleagues, let's

just see what the LLM has to say.

Maybe I'll fix it up and then give it to
my buddy down the hall to take a look.

Matt Abrahams: Did it recommend
you need to see some therapy about

some narcissism or no, no, no?

It didn't.

Russ Altman: That goes without statement.

But if, if I had asked, I'm sure
it would've added to the chorus.

Matt Abrahams: I want to pull this
thread a little farther about grants.

You have been incredibly successful at
raising money for the projects that you

do through the grants that you apply for.

Many of our listeners have to write
proposals asking for funding from their

bosses or from external organizations.

What guidance do you have when it
comes to drafting proposals and grants?

Russ Altman: Yes.

I am passionate about this.

In general, the first thing you have to
do is understand the mission of the person

or institution to whom you are making
a request because if you don't hit that

mission on directly, it's end of the game.

Given that, you need to have a big
problem that you're, that you wanna

be part of the solution of, and
then a focused problem that you are

actually gonna provide the solution to.

You have to show that that
sub-problem is not solved.

Then you have to make the case that
there's an opportunity that you and

maybe others, but certainly you have.

And then you have to boil it down
to three to five action items,

followed by a summary of the state
of the world when you're done.

And I believe that that formula
can be used from everything from

a grant to a federal funding
agency to a marriage proposal.

And I've tried it in all different
settings, and it really is the

fundamental structure of any proposal.

Matt Abrahams: When, when we turn off the
microphones, I wanna hear the future state

that you used to propose to your wife.

Russ Altman: Happiness.

No, it's an easy one.

"Honey, you will be happier
then than you are now."

Matt Abrahams: Excellent.

So it, the key takeaway from what you
just said, I think, is, it, not only

do you have to know your audience and
what's important for them, and that's

critical, regardless of if it's a
proposal or a pitch or a presentation.

But this notion of where we are to
where we're going to, from to to, is so

important in pitches, in presentations,
and it sounds like in types of proposals.

Russ Altman: Absolutely.

Matt Abrahams: And I like this notion
of saying, "Hey, there's this larger

problem, and I'm gonna focus on this
subset, and my unique value or my team's

unique value is what's gonna help us solve
it. Here's the specific things, and then

here's what the world's gonna look like."

Russ Altman: Thank you
for listening, Matt.

Matt Abrahams: What you did there is
something I'd also like to ask you about.

Your work in the academic world is
incredibly complex, is incredibly

detailed, and yet you're so good
at explaining and making that

complex information accessible.

What are your thoughts on how to do that?

I know you do it strategically.

I know from the conversation you and I
had earlier you like using the whiteboard.

What are the things you think about when
you take complex information to make it

more accessible to people who just don't
know as much, without dumbing it down?

Russ Altman: I think that
you know this very well.

Stories are what people remember.

Stories are what people like.

It's a, it's actually frustrating
'cause part of my work is

statistics, and statistics is really
much more robust than a story.

We always say you might have one good
anecdote, and that doesn't replace lots

of actual data, but I'm afraid that
sometimes, a lot of times, a good story

does stand in for a lot of data because
it's so compelling to the human mind.

So we're always looking for stories.

Analogy is a key part of both stopping
the conversation and letting people catch

up, but also saying, "Okay, wait a minute.

Let me rephrase what you just said,
but let me map it onto an everyday

situation like going shopping.

So you're telling me that the internet
and the way it works is like a very

complicated mail system," or whatever.

And so can you listen to what
the expert is saying and see an

analogy to an everyday life thing?

And you're checking your understanding,
but on the chance that you're

right, you're also helping the
entire listenership or readership

understand what was just said.

So that's important.

Related to that, you always have
an antenna up for jargon, and

you, I'm sure you do this too.

You have to be willing to stop the
conversation cold and say, "Oh, you just

said NIH. That's the National Institutes
of Health. They fund research in America."

And so part of what I'm doing always is
a little antenna listening for words that

need to be defined or abbreviations that
might not be commonly, uh, understood.

So I think analogy, stories,
and then adjusting the level.

So sometimes when you're talking
with someone, you just have to

send them signals in real time
that we are talking at a level that

requires a PhD, and I'm going for
high school, college students here.

And then it's practice.

And one of the great thing I love
both about this podcast and about

your book is you don't say that you
either got it or you don't got it.

All of this can be practiced and learned.

Matt Abrahams: Absolutely.

That's a big point I like to try
to make, and you are helping all

of us learn this Something that I
think can also be helpful, and I'd

love to get your input on this, is
there's work you can do in advance.

So you can actually stockpile
some stories or think about some

potential analogies that might work.

It doesn't all have to
happen in the moment.

You can pull them in.

And at the same time, some pre-work you
can do is you can prepare the audience.

So in a meeting invite, for example,
you could say, "And we're gonna be

talking about concepts like this,"
so people come in primed, which

I think makes your job easier.

What are your thoughts
on that kind of pre-work?

Russ Altman: I totally agree.

I had one more point written down,
and I just had decided that I

had talked too long a second ago.

But I said anticipate the tough spots
and validate that they're tough.

So say to the audience, "This guy's
talking about quantum physics. This is

hard stuff. Here's how we're gonna try
to manage through it together." So I just

wanna say that you're absolutely right.

I think the key idea of prep for an
interview or for creating a document

or, or any kind of communication is
anticipating the tough moments, the

tough concepts, and saying, "Okay, I'm
gonna try to fly with this analogy. I

think this'll work. I think it'll make
it more accessible, more relatable."

And that's part of doing your homework.

And before I talk to you, before I talk
to anybody, I spend the night before

basically Google stalking you, looking at
what have you said, what have you done.

Part of it is so I can have emergency
topics to talk about if it turns out

that you're, you know, reticent to speak.

That wasn't a problem.

However, the other thing was, what
might he say that might be surprising or

troubling, and how am I gonna manage that?

And then you go in with this
confidence that kinda whatever comes

down the pike, we're ready for it.

And you may use 'em or you may not
use 'em, but having them just has

you, this sense of preparedness.

Matt Abrahams: Right.

And that helps you be confident
and more present because you're not

reaching ahead thinking what's coming.

You do a good job of preparing to ask
the questions you ask on your podcast.

That preparation in advance, although
I don't know that I'm recommending

everybody cyberstalk people.

But I do think it's important
to do your homework.

What advice do you have for asking
questions that can really help focus and

guide communication and conversations?

Russ Altman: Specificity
in the question is key.

Uh, specificity rules in
the world, in my opinion.

People wanna hear stories that are
specific, not general, and you, they

wanna hear questions that are specific.

But then my second tip helps take up
a little bit of pressure off 'cause I

think the follow-up question is arguably
more important than the initial question

'cause the initial question gets the
listeners and the guests, if we're talking

about a podcast into a certain space.

And there might be some hemming
and hawing as they gather their

thoughts, but then they say something.

Now they're warmed up, and their
audience is warmed up, and now you

can come up with a follow-up question
that might be the meaty question.

And I've heard people who are very
good who do, who interviews, you

know, Letterman, Johnny Carson.

If you watch, their follow-ups
were always very good.

Matt Abrahams: In addition to being
specific and, and being open to asking

follow-up questions, the use of questions
isn't just for people who do interviewing.

You can be very effective in a
meeting, in giving feedback through

asking focus-specific questions.

And in some ways, I think people receive
that in a more open way than if I

give you some declarative statement.

Russ Altman: I think
you're absolutely right.

I notice that my PhD students, the
last thing that they get good at

before they're ready to launch and
graduate is answering questions after

a seminar, because they come to it
thinking that questions are an attack.

And so they get defensive.

Their answers are almost off-putting.

And so there's a mentorship that you
do to say, "You need to consider every

question as a little gift." It's a gift.

It shows I listened to what you just said,
I've processed it, and now I actually

want to have a conversation with you.

That, like, it doesn't
get any better than that.

So yes, questions, uh, can be powerful.

They can say thank you.

They can say I heard you.

And they can say, "And I have a
little bit of an opinion here,"

without even saying it as "I have
a little bit of an opinion here."

Matt Abrahams: Seeing questions as
opportunities rather than threats and

challenges is a fundamental mindset
shift, and I love that you spend time

with your students helping them get there.

Because it's instinctual.

When somebody comes up with
a question, we get defensive.

But if we can see it as an
opportunity to connect, to learn, to

collaborate, I think is wonderful.

Russ Altman: My best friend is a sports
writer, but really more importantly,

he's a journalist, and he's famous
for making his points with these very

understated, beautiful questions where he
doesn't even have to follow up and tell

you what he really thinks because it's
obvious from his question what a great

journalist he is because of this skill.

Matt Abrahams: We had a whole
episode with Deborah Schiffrin

on how to ask good questions.

She said to pause.

So after you ask the question, pause,
and after the person answers, pause

even longer 'cause more comes out.

I'd love to move to another
area where you are an expert.

You work on highly complex topics, but
you also work in highly complex teams.

What best practices do you use to foster
creativity and collaboration while

trying to avoid destructive conflict and
repetitive actions and wastes of time?

Russ Altman: It has become clear that
team science is the most effective

and is the most exciting in many ways.

You must understand and acknowledge
the rewards and motivations of

your collaborators because they're
unlikely to be identical to your own.

And if you leave that unstated or, worse,
not understood, it's just a recipe for

a lot of wasted energy and wasted words.

And that leads to number two, which is
you have to build the relationship, the

human relationship separate from the
scientific or business collaboration.

But that time, which is kind of a pain
in the neck 'cause it means you have

to have lunch with them, and maybe you
don't want to have lunch, maybe you want

to just take five minutes to shove food
down your throat because you're busy.

But the time to build that
relationship pays off in spades.

So those two things come first.

Then you have to, I think diversity
in teamwork has become, there's now

literal evidence that if everybody
looks and sounds like you and has

the same training and the same
perspective and the same goals, that

is not the recipe for the best team.

So you have to take a hard look
at who you've invited to the room.

And if you're really brave and
courageous, you will say, "This is a

good group, but this is not the right
group for this project, and we either

need to add to it or I need to make
some substitutions." And then it's

about, uh, roles and responsibilities.

And with the relationship in place and
with an understanding of the reward

systems and with a diversity, now you
can say, finally, "Okay, here's what

we're trying to do. How are we gonna
break this down, and how are we gonna

do roles and responsibilities so that
people feel like they're part of a team

that is functioning?" And then having
mechanisms for both formal and informal

communication in place and understood.

Matt Abrahams: A lot of
richness in that answer.

Russ Altman: Yeah, sorry.

Matt Abrahams: No.

No, no.

It's all, it's all good.

The fact that you first have to get
alignment on goals and expectations is

critical, forming those relationships that
which then allow much of what you've said.

And I will just put an exclamation
point on this notion of diversity.

Diversity of opinions and experience and
goals is what brings around the richness,

but also requires that you have to
define the roles, responsibilities, and

ways of communicating because if people
have those differences, they bring that

different way of communicating, too.

I wanna drill down on one aspect that I
was very specific in the question I asked.

I said avoiding destructive conflict.

I know in the work you do that encouraging
some disagreement and conflict is

actually helpful to achieving the goals.

How do you thread that needle?

Russ Altman: Where it comes up in
my life literally every week is

that all the students and post-docs
in the lab take turns every week

giving what we call a group meeting.

It's a, it's a research in progress
talk about how they're going.

So what's supposed to happen?

What's supposed to happen is
we're supposed to be supportive.

We wanted them to feel comfortable, but
they're supposed to be practicing for

an audience that may be hostile, like
scientific colleagues can be hostile.

And so I, as the leader of the group,
have to figure out, how do I set

this up so that they are getting
the hardest questions, scientific,

technical questions from these people
that they sit with every day, but it

doesn't lead to a toxic environment,
lack of trust, and people saying, "I

don't wanna give my group meeting.

I don't trust this group." So I have to
set it up so that they can present, I

can ask hard questions, but then we have
a culture of thanking them for their

talk, acknowledging the hard things that
they've uncovered as hard, thanking them

for the solutions that they've produced.

And if, if I see problems, I have
other communication methods in the

lab to try to identify those and
deal with them outside of that forum.

But you're absolutely right.

This is, like, the number one
thing for a team leader to be

aware of 'cause the rigor/support
tension is there all the time.

Matt Abrahams: You know, Russ,
one of the things I love about

hosting this podcast is the ability
to talk with amazing people.

I always learn something.

What is something that you've learned
from your many years of hosting The Future

of Everything that you think might help
the listeners of Think Fast, Talk Smart?

Russ Altman: The people who I
interview, what they do is the thing

that they think is the most important
thing they could possibly do.

So you talk to a civil engineer.

It's not that this is one little
interesting problem in civil engineering.

This is the most interesting problem
in civil engineering to this person,

and indeed, it's the most important
thing they can think of doing.

And so the passion that scientists
and engineers, 'cause that's what

we focus on, but the passion of
scientists and engineers in approaching

their work probably shouldn't
have surprised me, but it did.

And I learned that you need to
get to people's passion to really

understand what makes them tick.

Matt Abrahams: That's important for all of
us to do with the people we work with and

the people we socialize with, is provide
them avenues to explain their passion.

Well, I know you listen to the
podcast, so you know that before we

end, I like to ask three questions.

One I create just for you.

Russ Altman: Oh, my goodness.

This is so exciting.

Matt Abrahams: And, and two that are
similar for everybody else I interview.

Uh, you up for yours?

Russ Altman: Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Abrahams: All right.

You are very future focused.

So what is one thing about the future
that you're particularly excited about?

Russ Altman: I am excited
about young people.

Young people starting to form
their lives and their direction

gives me hope for the future.

As you may have come to your
attention, the world is currently

facing a lot of problems, and it's
very easy to get very negative.

And if you want to combat that negativity,
be involved in an admissions process or a

hiring process of young people, like for
their first job or for their next job.

If you're not inspired, then I think
you need to do some deep introspection.

Matt Abrahams: Yeah, I love that answer
simply because I have lots of friends

who are getting curmudgeonly, and they
will say, "These young people, what's

this world gonna amount to?" And I say,
"It's us that's causing the problems."

Because if you come in and see my students
or the people I coach, there's a lot of

hope and there's a lot of excitement,
and I'm, I'm glad you echoed that.

Question number two, who is a
communicator that you admire and why?

Russ Altman: My dad.

Matt Abrahams: Tell me why.

Russ Altman: He had a great voice.

He had an FM voice.

And he did lots of the things
that you discuss all the time.

When I'm trying to do my best at
communicating, I'm channeling Dad.

Matt Abrahams: I actually am getting
a little choked up because I feel

exactly the same way about my father.

Uh, my father had an
amazing resonant voice.

And when you said FM voice, my
father actually did a little radio,

and he was always very structured.

Get to the point.

What's the point?

And it really helped me try to
be more focused and concrete.

Russ Altman: So be, if I may.

Matt Abrahams: Yeah.

Russ Altman: Between the podcast we did
this morning and the one we're doing

now, I gave a talk and somebody said,
"What's the best piece of advice you

ever got?" And I said, "It was from
my dad, and it was get to the point."

Matt Abrahams: Oh, how funny.

Uh, question number three, what are
the first three ingredients that go

into a successful communication recipe?

Russ Altman: You need to
know who you're talking to.

You need to know the audience, a little
bit about their goals, hopes and dreams.

Second, you need to think
about what you're specifically

trying to tell that person.

And then the third one I'm gonna
go with, make sure you try to

keep it fun, light and enjoyable.

Like, life is short.

And if you can do something with a sense
of joy, why not do it with a sense of joy?

So Even if it's the most mundane
message, think about, how can I make

this a positive experience for me and
for the person who's about to listen

to me and have a conversation with me?

Matt Abrahams: This notion of connection
and engagement through the energy you

bring to your topic is really important.

There are people who study things
that I don't understand and prior

to hearing them talk about it or
write about it, I didn't care about.

But their passion and their ability
to connect it to me and make it

engaging makes a big difference.

Russ Altman: I agree.

Matt Abrahams: Russ, thank you so much.

You did an amazing job of educating us
and keeping it engaging and interesting.

I appreciate it.

All of us can learn from you in
terms of how to connect with our

audiences, manage some of the tricky
situations through questions and in

structuring our environment so that
we can take the advantage of conflict.

I appreciate your time.

Best of luck on the podcast.

Thank you.

Russ Altman: Thank you very much.

I really enjoyed this, and
congratulations on your successes.

Thank you for joining us
for another episode of Think

Fast, Talk Smart, The Podcast.

It was great learning from Russ.

One of the ideas that really resonated
with me is that AI is most valuable

when you use it to help complex ideas
become easier for others to understand.

To learn more, please be sure to dive
into our library of past episodes

wherever you get your podcasts.

Our back catalog is full of helpful
communication tips and tools to

help you be a better communicator.

This episode was produced by Katherine
Reed, Ryan Campos, and me, Matt Abrahams.

Our music is from Floyd Wonder with
special thanks to Podium Podcast Company.

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