Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

211. Small Screens, Strong Signals: Mastering Modern Communication

240 snips

Jun 24, 2025

Andrew Brodsky, a management professor at the University of Texas and author of PING: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication, shares insights on navigating the challenges of digital communication. He highlights how texts, emails, and video calls can misrepresent our intentions. Brodsky introduces the PING framework, focusing on perspective-taking and nonverbal awareness, and offers practical tips for effective virtual interactions. He emphasizes the importance of channel selection and the nuances of authenticity in the digital age.

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INSIGHT

Channel Choice Depends on Goals

Choose your communication channel based on your specific goal to maximize effectiveness.
Early-stage brainstorming works better individually and virtually to yield more ideas.

ADVICE

Apply the PING Framework

Use the PING framework: Perspective-taking, Initiative, Nonverbal awareness, Goals in virtual communication.
These elements help ensure your message is clear and well-received.

INSIGHT

Understanding Communication Richness

Communication richness depends on synchronicity and cue variety, not just one factor.
Slight differences in richness can drastically affect interaction outcomes and feelings of awkwardness.

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In the age of virtual communication, here’s how to ensure your messages convey what you mean.

Texts. Emails. Slacks. Zooms. We’re communicating in more ways than ever, but Andrew Brodsky has a word of warning: Your virtual communication might be sending messages you’re not aware of.

Brodsky is the author of PING: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication. And as a professor of management at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, he researches the impact of technology on workplace communication. “In virtual communication, there's often missing information,” he says. “As recipients of it, we're searching to fill in the gaps. The problem [is] that the recipient who's making these guesses is often guessing incorrectly.” As his research reveals, variables like typos, the time you schedule a meeting, and even your choice of email signature affect how your messages are received — and how you’re perceived.

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams and Brodsky explore his PING framework (perspective-taking, initiative, nonverbal awareness, and goals) for mastering digital communication. From understanding when to choose email over a phone call to navigating cameras-on versus cameras-off meetings, he offers practical strategies for ensuring your virtual messages communicate exactly what you intend.

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Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:48) - What Is Virtual Communication?
(03:34) - Choosing the Right Channel for Your Goal
(06:19) - The Ping Framework: Secrets to Virtual Communication
(10:15) - Understanding Communication Richness
(13:17) - Nonverbals in Virtual Communication
(17:01) - The Final Three Question
(25:29) - Conclusion

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