Matt Welch: When I hear the word structure, it triggers so very many ideas and thoughts for me. He says having a structure helps solve one of the two fundamental problems in communication - what to say and how to say it. Welch: In my research, I'm really interested in topics. Topics chunk our turns into thematic logical chunks. And then even still within this mechanical bucket, we think a lot about what we talk about.
As a communication expert, Alison Wood Brooks spends a lot of time talking about talking. But, as she says, listening is just as important.
“My course is called TALK,” says Wood Brooks, who is the O'Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow at Harvard Business School. “The great irony is that it should really be called LISTEN. It’s hard to be a good listener yet so very important.”
In the latest episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Wood Brooks covers conversation strategies for active listening, turning anxiety into excitement, and knowing when it’s time to change the subject.
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