273. Quick Thinks: How to Create Messages People Remember

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

Think Fast Talk Smart

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

4.7 • 805 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Memorable communication isn’t about saying more—it’s making the right idea stick.

No matter how compelling a presentation feels in the moment, most of what you say won’t last in your audience’s memory. The key isn’t trying to make people remember everything — it’s ensuring they remember what matters most.

Carmen Simon is a cognitive neuroscientist, author, and expert on how the brain pays attention and forms memories. Her research explores how communication can move beyond passive listening and become an experience the brain actually holds onto. “The way we come to know the world is through the interaction of brain, body, and environment,” she explains. “The more you invite your audiences to interact with anything, especially physically, the more you impact cognition.”

In this Quick Thinks episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, Simon and host Matt Abrahams explore practical, research-backed ways to make communication more memorable. They discuss why handwriting notes can deepen understanding, how curiosity and tension capture attention, and why communicators should avoid overwhelming audiences with too much information. Instead, Simon encourages speakers to structure ideas so audiences can recognize patterns and return to a clear core message.

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Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:49) - Embodied Cognition Explained
(05:02) - The Impact of Environment on Attention
(06:26) - Sparking Curiosity in Your Audience
(10:42) - Avoiding Cognitive Overload
(15:50) - Using Visuals to Improve Recall
(19:45) - Conclusion

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Matt here. Imagine what it would be like if you could feel less nervous and more confident in
0:04.7	your high-stakes communication. Well, you can. With a new free three-day communicate with calm,
0:11.2	confident quest, you'll join people from around the globe to learn simple, proven strategies to
0:16.8	manage anxiety, calm your body, and reframe your thoughts. On March 24th, 25th, and 26th, we will join
0:23.2	together live and discuss our quest task for the day. If you can't join live, no worries,
0:28.6	you can watch the video recording later. Go to FasterSmarter.com slash learning to sign up for this
0:34.4	free quest and learning community access. Again, that's faster, smarter.io slash learning.
0:41.1	Now a word from one of our sponsors.
0:43.3	Their support allows us to bring you quality content free of charge.
0:48.1	Work moves quickly.
0:49.6	Most days, it feels like we're responding to something, an email, a proposal, a decision,
0:53.8	almost non nonstop.
0:55.7	And in the age of AI, the pressure isn't just to move faster.
0:58.8	It's to make sure that what you send actually sounds like you.
1:03.0	That's one reason I've been using Grammarly.
1:05.5	AI is here to stay, but knowing how to use it well, at work is the hard part.
1:09.8	What I appreciate about grammarly
1:11.3	is that it helps me think and write more clearly without taking over my voice. Sometimes I'll use
1:16.4	it to get started, outlining an email or jump-starting a blank page. And then I refine from there.
1:22.5	It helps adjust tone and phrasing so what I send feels natural and appropriate, not stiff or generic.
1:28.1	It works across more than 500,000 apps and websites, so it's there wherever I'm writing.
1:33.3	And it gives you a kind of gut check, helping you simplify ideas, clarify your message,
	...

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