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Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

279. Rethinks: How to Leverage What People Already Want

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 • 802 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How to turn latent motivation into fuel for change.


If you want to be a changemaker, you’ll have to convince others to join your cause. But according to Dan Heath, persuading your audience isn’t about creating new motivation — it’s about leveraging the motivation that’s already there.


“The most important fuel for any change effort is motivation,” says Heath, the number-one New York Times bestselling author of Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. Instead of struggling to persuade people to want what you want, Heath suggests finding where your goals overlap with the things they already desire. "Before you even get to persuasion, if you can just tap and unleash the energy that's already there, you've already catapulted yourself toward success,” he says.


In this Rethinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Heath and host Matt Abrahams explore how to create more compelling communication using “leverage points,” or as Heath says, “where a little bit of effort yields a disproportionate return.” Whether getting buy-in from one teammate or achieving change across an entire organization, Heath shares practical tips for turning latent motivation into an engine for change.

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Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (04:01) - The Power of Storytelling
  • (07:11) - Crafting Powerful Stories
  • (12:10) - Finding Great Stories
  • (15:29) - Leverage Points For Change
  • (18:41) - Wasted Resources & Motivation
  • (23:48) - Latent Desire in Systems
  • (25:57) - The Role of Systems in Communication
  • (29:46) - Communicating Progress
  • (33:08) - Lessons from Hosting a Podcast
  • (35:40) - The Final Three Questions
  • (42:28) - Conclusion

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, Matt here. I have a favor to ask. You know on Think Fast Talk Smart, we spend a lot of time

0:05.1

talking about feedback and how to improve our communication. Well, now I'd like to get your feedback

0:10.7

so we can improve our communication. We are doing a global Think Fast Talk Smart listener,

0:17.4

viewer survey. We would love to hear your input and insight into what we're doing well and what

0:23.2

we could do better to help you hone and develop your communication skills. It takes about five to

0:28.4

10 minutes to complete. Go to faster, smarter.io slash survey. And as an incentive, we'll give away

0:35.3

some Think Fast Talk Smart prizes to some random participants.

0:39.8

Again, help us help you by going to FasterSmarter.io slash survey.

0:45.3

Thank you for listening and thank you for your support.

0:49.6

Now a word from one of our sponsors.

0:52.2

Their support allows us to bring you quality content free of charge.

0:55.5

Language isn't just about words.

0:57.5

It's about connection, opportunity, and credibility.

1:00.4

That's one reason I like Babel.

1:02.2

It focuses on real-world communication, not just vocabulary drills, but practical conversations

1:07.8

you can actually use, whether that's collaborating internationally,

1:11.5

traveling for work, or building relationships across cultures. The lessons are short, about 10 minutes,

1:17.2

so they fit into busy schedules, and they're designed by more than 200 language experts with

1:22.0

tools for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It adapts to how you learn and helps you

1:27.1

track real progress over time.

1:29.3

For many of our listeners, whether you're strengthening English skills,

1:32.3

adding another language for professional growth, or staying connected globally,

...

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