191. Memorable Messages: Choose Words That Capture Attention and Stay Remembered

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

Think Fast Talk Smart

Communicating, Influence, Career Skills, Career, Business, Education, Leadership, Careers, Communication, Career Growth, Public Speaking, Language Learning, Improv

4.7 • 711 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How to craft communication that your audience will remember.

Why do some messages stick, while others go in one ear and out the other? When it comes to crafting memorable communication, Ada Aka says not all verbiage is created equal.

“Certain words are intrinsically more memorable than others,” says Aka, an assistant professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business. In her research of consumer behavior and decision-making, she’s uncovered how language shapes not just our perception of the world, “but how the world stays with us over time." From concrete terms to emotionally charged ones, certain words have more staying power than others, and to communicators who want to capture audiences (and keep them), she says, “Carefully chosen words, they're going to be taking the attention.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Aka joins Matt Abrahams to explore the science of memorable communication. From creating brand slogans that stick to choosing words that align with your message, she reveals how to create communication that won't be forgotten.

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Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:05) - The Power of Words in Memory
(03:45) - What Makes Words Memorable?
(06:04) - Informal and Conversational Language
(07:38) - AI & Memory
(09:34) - Memorable Slogans
(11:26) - Predicting Memorability: Why We Get It Wrong
(13:15) - Framing in Communication
(15:24) - Creating Meaningful Interactions
(17:34) - The Final Three Questions
(22:21) - Conclusion

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Feel like you aren't being challenged or growing at work?
0:03.5	Podcast listeners and my students often ask me, when is the best time to make a career move?
0:09.0	I always tell them that the best time to look for a new job is when you're feeling too comfortable in your current one.
0:15.0	LinkedIn should be your first stop when looking for something new or just seeing what's out there.
0:20.0	I regularly use LinkedIn
0:21.6	myself, and I see how it has helped many others I know. LinkedIn has just made the job search
0:26.6	easier and allows you to explore your potential or find something that's a better match for you.
0:31.5	With its new job match feature rolling out to members in 2025, the job search process is simplified, so you know where to focus.
0:39.7	It provides personalized insights and detailed, actionable summaries. Job match does the heavy
0:45.4	lifting so you can find your ideal fit. Explore your job potential at LinkedIn.com
0:50.6	slash jobs. That's LinkedIn.com slash jobs.
0:58.7	The words we choose matter.
1:01.8	They can help us be memorable
1:03.0	or they can lead our messages to be forgotten.
1:06.5	My name's Matt Abrahams,
1:08.0	and I teach strategic communication
1:09.7	at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
1:12.2	Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast.
1:16.1	Today, I'm really excited to speak with Ada Aaka.
1:19.5	Ada is an assistant professor of marketing at Stanford GSB.
1:23.2	Ada's research explores consumer memory, judgment, and decision making to uncover psychological
1:29.0	mechanisms for consumer behavior and memory. Welcome, Ata. Thanks for being here.
	...

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