How to Speak Clearly & With Confidence | Matt Abrahams

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 146 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest is Matt Abrahams, lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a world expert in communication and public speaking. He explains how to speak with clarity and confidence and how to be more authentic in your communication in all settings: public, work, relationships, etc. He shares how to eliminate filler words ("umm"-ing), how to overcome stage fright and how to structure messages in a way that makes audiences remember the information. He also shares how to recover gracefully if you "blank out" on stage and simple drills and frameworks that dramatically improve spontaneity, storytelling and overall communication effectiveness. People of all ages and communication styles will benefit from the practical, evidence-supported protocols Matt shares to help you communicate with greater confidence and impact. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Pre-order Andrew's book Protocols: https://go.hubermanlab.com/protocols Thank you to our sponsors AGZ by AG1: https://drinkagz.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman Mateina: https://drinkmateina.com/pages/store-locator Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Timestamps (0:00) Matt Abrahams (3:21) Public Speaking Fear, Status; Speech Delivery (5:36) Speech, Connection, Credibility; Authenticity (9:05) Monitoring, Self-Judgement; Memorization, Tool: Object Relabeling Exercise (13:13) Sponsors: Eight Sleep & BetterHelp (15:40) Cadence & Speech Patterns; Lego Manuals, Storytelling & Emotion (19:18) Visual vs Audio Content, Length, Detail (23:19) Understanding Audience's Needs, Tool: Recon – Reflection – Research (24:25) Judgement in Communication, Heuristics (27:33) Questions, Responding to the Audience, Tool: Structuring Information (31:34) Feedback & Observation; Tools: Three-Pass Speech Review; Communication Reflection Journal (39:09) Movement, Stage Fright, Content Expertise (42:54) Sponsors: AGZ by AG1 & Joovv (45:34) Multi-Generation Communication Styles & Trust; Curiosity, Conversation Turns (50:32) Linear vs Non-Linear Speech, Tool: Tour Guide Expectations (53:21) Develop Communication Skills, Audience Size, Tools: Distancing; Practicing (1:01:43) Tool: Improv & Agility; Great Communication Examples; Divided Attention (1:09:36) One-on-One Communication vs Public Speaking (1:11:00) Sponsor: Mateína (1:12:00) Neurodiversity, Introverts, Communication Styles; Writing & Editing (1:16:30) Calculating Risk, Tool: Violating Expectations & Engaging Audience (1:21:20) Authenticity, Strengths, Growth & Improv (1:23:23) Damage Control, Tools: Avoid Blanking Out; Contingency Planning, Silence (1:30:32) Nerves, Tool: Breathwork; Spontaneous Communication; Beta-Blockers (1:34:29) Communication Hygiene, Caffeine, Tools: NSDR/Yoga Nidra; Vestibular System & Sleep (1:40:08) Conversation Before Speaking; Delivering Engaging Speeches (1:42:56) Sponsor: Function (1:44:43) Anticipation, Tool: Introduce Yourself; Connect to Environment, Phones (1:51:30) Customer Service & Kids Jobs; Tool: Role Model Communication; COVID Pandemic (1:56:04) Quiet But Not Shy, Extroverts; Social Media Presence (2:00:25) Martial Arts, Sport, Running, Presence & Connection (2:04:16) Apologizing; Communication Across Accents & Cultures (2:07:36) Interruptions, Tools: Paraphrasing; Speech Preparation (2:10:57) Public Speaking Fear, Tool: Envision Positive Outcome; Arguments & Mediation (2:13:19) Omit Filler Words, Tool: Landing Phrases; Time & Storytelling (2:16:52) Asking For a Raise; Poor Communicators & Curiosity; Memorization (2:19:49) Pre-Talk Anxiety Management; Acknowledgements (2:23:47) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you ever recommend people memorize speeches?
0:03.0	Never.
0:04.0	The reason memorizing is so bad is it burdens your cognitive load.
0:08.0	You've created the right way to say it and you're constantly comparing what you wanted to say to what you're actually saying.
0:14.0	So having a roadmap, having a structure, having some familiarity with some ideas are important.
0:19.0	If there are certain words that you really want to get across or certain data,
0:22.6	have a note card, read it.
0:24.6	I'd rather you do that than put the cognitive burden on yourself of memorizing.
0:27.6	Several people asked about how best to communicate with people who are not very good at communicating.
0:33.6	I would encourage people to lead with questions, draw the other person out.
0:39.3	Often if you can get them talking about something that's important to them or connected to what you want, then you can engage in that conversation.
0:46.3	So again, it's pre-work, it's thinking about what's of value, lead with questions, and then as soon as the person responds, give them space to tell more. My mother-in-law
0:55.5	had a black belt in small talk. She was amazing. She was from the Midwest. Every time she'd
1:00.3	fly out to visit, she'd come off the plane with three new best friends. And her secret, and you mentioned
1:05.5	this earlier, were three words, tell me more. Once somebody answers a question, give them that space to say more,
1:11.9	and that really draws them out and gives you some ideas of what's important to them so you can
1:17.1	latch on and talk about it more. So lead with questions, give space for more communication. That's
1:22.8	how you draw somebody who might be reticent or not comfortable speaking. Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
1:36.1	I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
1:42.8	My guest today is Matt Abrams from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
1:47.1	Matt is an expert in speaking and communication, on stage, online, in person, and in all circumstances.
1:54.5	During today's episode, we discuss how to become a better communicator, everything from protocols
	...

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