Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he sits down with experts in the field to discuss real-world challenges. How do I send my message clearly when put on the spot? How do I write emails to get my point across? How can I easily convey complex information? How do I manage my reputation? Whether you’re giving a toast or presenting in a meeting, communication is critical to success in business and in life.Think Fast, Talk Smart provides the tools, techniques, and best practices to help you communicate more effectively.
252. Rethinks: How to Make Complex Ideas Accessible
Presenting complex information for your audience to understand.
As communicators, we often need to take complex information (e.g., financial, technical, or scientific) and make it more understandable for our audience – we’re experts and they likely aren’t. But having so much knowledge on the topics we discuss can often make the job more difficult: we dive in too quickly, forget about our audience's needs, or use jargon that goes over their heads.
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, strategic communications lecturers Matt Abrahams and Lauren Weinstein explore the “curse of knowledge” and offer specific techniques you can use to be more successful in getting your point across.
Episode Reference Links:
- Lauren Weinstein
- Ep.3 When Knowing Too Much Can Hurt Your Communication: How to Make Complex Ideas Accessible
- Ep.49 Make Numbers Count: How to Communicate Data Effectively
- Ep.91 Um, Like, So: How Filler Words Can Create More Connected, Effective Communication
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Chapters:
- (00:00) - Introduction
- (02:35) - Where Complexity Breaks Down
- (03:48) - Start With the Audience
- (04:50) - The Power of Analogy
- (07:51) - The “Chunking” Technique
- (09:46) - Make Data Relatable
- (11:56) - The Final Three Question
- (15:19) - Conclusion
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