Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

How do you stay clear, calm, and precise when every word counts and there’s no room for error?

Staying calm and focused while translating high-stakes conversations in real time isn’t just a language skill — it’s a masterclass in communication under pressure. And for Giampaolo Bianchi, simultaneous interpreter for the United Nations and World Health Organization, it’s a challenge he meets with presence, precision, and a whole lot of preparation. In this expanded conversation from our Spontaneous Speaking series, Bianchi offers a behind-the-scenes look at how he prepares for — and performs in — moments where being calm, in control, and adaptable are essential.

“We don’t translate words — we translate ideas,” Bianchi explains, highlighting the mindset shift that allows interpreters to go beyond language and convey meaning with clarity and nuance. He shares the role of rigorous preparation, physical grounding, and mental focus in his work, and explains how tools like note systems, pre-session rituals, and active listening help manage cognitive load during live interpretation.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Bianchi and host Matt Abrahams explore how the principles of simultaneous interpretation apply far beyond the booth — offering valuable strategies for anyone who needs to communicate effectively under pressure, adapt in the moment, and ensure their smartest communication happens without a script.

Episode Reference Links:
Connect:

Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (02:38) - Becoming a UN Interpreter
  • (03:46) - Staying Calm Under Pressure
  • (04:59) - Translating Emotion, Not Just Words
  • (06:06) - Memory and Focus Techniques
  • (07:47) - The Power of Preparation
  • (09:13) - Pre-Meeting Rituals and Readiness
  • (10:30) - Handling Mistakes in Real Time
  • (11:40) - Interpreter Habits in Daily Life
  • (12:41) - The Final Three Questions
  • (17:34) - Conclusion

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Creators and Guests

Host
Matt Abrahams
Lecturer Stanford University Graduate School of Business | Think Fast Talk Smart podcast host
GB
Guest
Giampaolo Bianchi
United Nations Interpreter

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: Meaning matters,
especially in high pressure negotiations

or crisis situations, and we can
all actively work to make sure our

messages aren't lost in translation.

My name is Matt Abrahams and I
teach strategic communication at

Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Welcome to Think Fast
Talk Smart, the podcast.

As part of our four-part miniseries on
spontaneous speaking, we introduced you

to a number of coaches whose jobs require
successful in the moment communication.

So many of our listeners found value
in our coach's advice that we wanted

to provide you with an opportunity
to hear our complete interviews.

So today, I'm excited for you
to learn from Giampaolo Bianchi.

Giampaolo is a simultaneous interpreter
who does work for the United Nations

and the World Health Organization.

His main areas of focus are
on international diplomacy and

politics, human rights, global
health and foreign policy.

Let's jump right in and
learn from Giampaolo.

Giampaolo, welcome.

I look forward to our conversation.

Giampaolo Bianchi:
Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure.

Matt Abrahams: Excellent.

Shall we get started?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Let's.

Matt Abrahams: So for over ten
years, you've been a high stakes

language interpreter for the UN and
other governmental organizations.

What languages do you speak and
what trainings and experiences

led you to do this kind of work?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Here in,
in Geneva, I mainly work with

English, Spanish, and French.

As for my, my training, well, I started
out ten years ago at the University

of Hawaii, and then eventually I
obtained a master's degree in conference

interpreting at the University
of Geneva here in Switzerland.

Matt Abrahams: I'm impressed that
you went to school in Hawaii.

I think that sounds awesome.

Uh, so is a lot of the training
just doing translation in real time?

Is it like somebody drilling
you and making sure everything

you said is accurate?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Uh, more or less.

Yes.

Uh, you start with simple speeches and
you work on those and then you gradually

work your way up and do things that
are more difficult, until by the end

of your training you are, you know,
working for a half hour at a time and

interpreting very difficult speeches.

Matt Abrahams: Wow.

That's amazing.

Could, could I put you on the spot?

I'm gonna ask you a question.

Would you mind translating the
question that I ask and then

answer it back in English?

Would that be okay?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Sure.

Matt Abrahams: You've translated in
really high pressure situations with

super important conversations happening.

How do you stay calm and collected
while also thinking on your

feet during these tense moments?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Usted ha interpretado
en situaciones donde hay mucha

presión y en donde se están celebrando
conversaciones muy importantes.

Cómo mantiene usted la calma?

That's basically my, my interpretation
of the, of the question.

And as for the answer, well, there
are a lot of sort of smaller actions

that you can take to help you focus.

For example, just your
posture, the way that you hold

yourself while you're working.

You know, you're sitting in the booth and
you have both feet planted on the ground.

You have, you know, you
keep your back straight.

Try to anchor yourself to
the ground, and that helps.

Remembering to breathe
is also very important.

And on a mental level,
zero-in on the present moment.

You know, just focus on what
you're doing at that exact moment.

Don't dwell on anything else.

Matt Abrahams: I want to just point
out for our audience who can't see

you, but I can, two things happened.

When I asked you to translate,
you actually did go into

that position naturally.

It's not that you were slouching
or leaning, but all of a sudden

I saw you become more formal.

And I definitely saw you take a a breath.

I wanna ask you a question that
came from what you said in Spanish.

You were clearly not just repeating
my words, but you were inflecting

those words to convey some of the same
emotion that I was trying to convey.

Talk to me about the role
of conveying emotion.

Giampaolo Bianchi: Sure.

Well, in our profession, we often
say that we don't translate words.

We translate ideas.

The idea is to try and embody the
person that you're interpreting.

You try and sort of get into their head,
figure out what it is that they're

saying and why they're saying it.

And yes.

You'll follow the tone or the, the
inflection, uh, without exaggerating,

you know, you don't want to, you don't
want to become a caricature of the

person that's speaking originally.

You, you're almost
playing a role in a sense.

Matt Abrahams: Oh, that's really
interesting, that's fascinating.

It's scary that you're trying to inhabit,
you know what I'm trying to say because

I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say.

How, you know, I can imagine in
these intense conversations people

go on for a long period of time.

How are you remembering everything
they're saying as they're saying it?

Is there some way you do that?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Well, it, it
depends on the mode of interpreting.

There is simultaneous interpreting
and consecutive interpreting.

A consecutive is just when a person
speaks a phrase in one language, then

you repeat it in the other language,
and we do take notes when that happens.

We have developed a system of notes
to help you kickstart your memory

and to sort of guide you along
the speech as you're interpreting.

And as for simultaneous interpreting,
well, you are going to have to concentrate

very hard for a sustained period of time.

So it can, it's very taxing.

Matt Abrahams: Would you mind sharing,
like one thing you do to try to

maximize your cognitive bandwidth?

I know that when I'm really trying to
concentrate and remember a question

somebody asks or something, I might
look down and away because looking at

people's faces gets distracting to me.

Giampaolo Bianchi: Um, sometimes I do
something similar, you know, sometimes

when I'm, I really need to concentrate,
I'll close my eyes and put my, my head

in my hands and try and focus that way.

Sometimes, on the other hand, I do
actually have to look at the person.

Because there are lots of, uh,
nonverbal cues that can help me.

You know, body language and, and so on.

But I would say like, the number one
thing that I do to avoid cognitive

overload is just preparation.

Matt Abrahams: Okay.

So tell me about that and what,
what's that preparation look like?

Giampaolo Bianchi: When a conference
interpreter works at a meeting, they

have to know almost everything about
the meeting before it even begins.

So if I'm interpreting a conference,
I will look up the organization that

I'm working in, you know, figuring out
who's the director, general, who's the

deputy director general, um, what's
the structure of the organization?

What do they do?

Why do they do it?

And then I'll look up
the specific meeting.

Why are they meeting, what
are they there to discuss?

What do you think is going
to be said at the meeting?

Given the delegates that are there,
you know, sometimes you might even go

so far as to look up the delegates,
uh, online and see if they're already

recorded, speeches of them so that you
can listen to them and sort of prepare,

uh, by getting used to their accent.

You can also, we'll look up the, the
jargon that's used in the organization.

Are there any important acronyms
or any technical terms that

you really need to know?

Because if you prepare that information
beforehand, and if you really study it

and learn it by heart, you can almost
automate the process of thinking about

those things so that you can then dedicate
your mental resources to something else.

Because if you spend, you know, every
second that you spend thinking about,

oh, what does that acronym mean?

Is a second that you're not spending
on understanding what, what is

being said and interpreting it.

Matt Abrahams: That's phenomenal.

So it is in that in depth preparation
that you are freeing up your

cognitive bandwidth in the moment.

One of the things that you mentioned that
I think is so important is many of us

are in interactions with people who don't
necessarily speak the language we speak as

their native tongue, so they have accents.

And I love this notion of actually trying
to see if you can hear the person speaking

prior to ever being in the moment with
them, so you can train your brain to

be prepared for what they're saying.

That's really important.

I really appreciate you sharing.

I'd like to go to the moment before
you start, 'cause I can imagine

there's some anxiety, some excitement.

What do you do to prepare yourself that
helps you get ready to get started?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Well, one of
the things that I, that every good

interpreter does is they usually arrive
at the venue at least half an hour

before the beginning of the meeting.

You want to be there as early as
possible so that you can iron out any

technical issues that might pop up,
talk to the technicians and perhaps

even the delegates, and try and
get information from them that way.

Matt Abrahams: It sounds to me
like it's almost a ritual and that

ritual might actually also help
you calm down and get prepared.

Giampaolo Bianchi: Yeah,
it is kind of like that.

Yes.

Matt Abrahams: It's interesting.

So I've interviewed actors and actresses
and a lot of what you're describing

sounds similar to what they do.

I am sure, you're human, that you
have made mistakes or you've been

less accurate than you intended.

How do you recover in those moments?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Well, the first
thing that you have to do, if you're

able to correct it immediately, then
you can just correct it immediately.

Above all, you just need to keep
calm, sort of keep it in the back

of your head and try and go back
to it when, whenever you can.

Matt Abrahams: Excellent.

Well, yeah, and I think that's true
for any of us when we make a mistake.

You have to make an in the moment choice.

Can I correct it now or do I
have to come back to it later?

Or maybe it's not significant
enough to even matter.

I'm curious, at the completion of
a translation, do you ever talk to

the people for whom you translated?

Do they ever give you feedback?

Do they ever say, hey, thank
you, or, that was helpful?

Or is that something
that's, you just don't do?

That's not allowed or expected?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Um, it's not
something I do very often to be honest.

Uh, we interpreters tend to be
more behind the scenes people.

You know, we go into the booth in the
back of the room and then we do our job.

Matt Abrahams: Do you find, do
you find it hard to turn off this

way of communicating when you're
just in everyday communication?

You know, as somebody who teaches
communication, I have had to learn over

time to just turn off my brain and not
be analyzing the things that I get paid

to analyze, you know, the things I teach.

Do you find yourself in like everyday
interaction switching languages or

noticing things that get distracting
from the moment of being real

can, really present and connected
with the people you're talking to?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Yeah,
it does happen a lot.

I mean, I tend to use a lot of interpreter
speak even when I'm not interpreting.

And sometimes I need to stop
myself and say, you're not,

you're not interpreting anything.

You are just having a normal conversation.

Matt Abrahams: Conversation.

Giampaolo Bianchi: And it also
happens that you'll be interpreting,

sometimes I'm interpreting for so long
that I'll find myself interpreting

everything else in my head.

So, you know, I'll be watching a TV
show and interpreting it in my head.

Matt Abrahams: Sure.

Giampaolo, this has been fantastic.

Before we end, I'd like to ask you three
questions that I'm asking everyone in our

miniseries on spontaneous communication.

Are you up for that?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Sure.

Matt Abrahams: So this will fascinate me.

Who is a communicator
that you admire and why?

Giampaolo Bianchi: I really admire Carl
Sagan because he is so good at taking

very complex ideas and explaining them
in a way that is very easy to understand.

He's just an expert at teaching you very
complex ideas and doing so in a way that

is very natural and almost spontaneous.

And I think that's very admirable.

Matt Abrahams: You're right.

I mean, he was very good at doing
that, and I'm not surprised that

somebody who does what you do would
admire somebody who, in a similar vein,

translated very technical scientific
information for those of us who

are less technical and scientific.

Question number two.

Well, those listening likely won't need
to speak in the situations you do, what

advice would you give for them to be
better spontaneous speakers in the moment?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Analyze
what people are saying.

What is the idea that they're
trying to communicate and how

are they communicating it?

Why are they using certain
words and not others?

Or why are they avoiding
the use of certain words?

And really try and analyze what
people are saying and how and why.

And that'll help you when you have
to, you know, do it, do it yourself.

Matt Abrahams: Yeah.

So to be a really detailed observer
of the communication, not just

what's being said, but how and why
in the language, to help yourself.

But also I think as you shared,
you get deeper understanding.

Final question.

Uh, I'd like you to give me some homework.

What is one communication thing
that I could do in my life that

simulates something you do regularly,
what advice would you give me so

that I could do that thing well?

Giampaolo Bianchi: Well, I guess
this goes back to what we were

saying earlier about preparation.

The language that we speak is our
primary tool when we're interpreting,

and you should learn to use that
tool as efficiently as possible.

And one of the ways to do that is to
practice different ways of saying things.

For example, there's an exercise that
interpreters do when they're preparing.

They'll take a concept and they'll
think of as many different ways of

saying the same concept as they can.

So for example, how many different
ways do you know of saying, go up?

Something can go up, but it can also grow.

It can escalate, it can hike, it
can balloon, it can skyrocket.

Uh, and then the opposite, you know,
for things that are going down.

They can descend, they can plummet,
they can bottom out, and really practice

those things over and over and over.

And then try to use them in your
everyday language instead of,

instead of saying the same thing
more than once, just use a synonym.

Matt Abrahams: Well, thank
you for elevating our game

without lowering our abilities.

That was really helpful and
I'm going to practice that.

I think that's a wonderful tool.

Well, Giampaolo, this has
been incredibly educational.

Thank you for sharing what you do on
a daily basis and translating that

so the rest of us can understand.

I really appreciate your time.

Thank you so much.

Giampaolo Bianchi: Well, thank you.

Muchas gracias, Merci beaucoup.

Matt Abrahams: Thank you so much for
joining us for another episode of

Think Fast Talk Smart, the podcast.

To learn more from our spontaneous
speaking coaches, listen to

our four-part miniseries,
episodes 197, 198, 199, and 203.

You can also go to
fastersmarter.io/spontaneous.

This episode was produced
by Katherine Reed, Michael

Riley, and me, Matt Abrahams.

Our music is from Floyd Wonder.

With thanks to Podium Podcast Company.

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