Matt Abrahams: Communicate with Clarity, Structure, and Presence

FranklinCovey On Leadership

FranklinCovey

Business, Management

4.9 • 851 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stanford lecturer in Organizational Behavior and communication expert Matt Abrahams explains why strong leadership depends on clarity, intention, and genuine connection. He breaks down practical tools—like his “What? So What? Now What?” structure—that help people speak effectively under pressure and avoid the traps of over-preparation, memorization, and audience neglect. Abrahams also offers concrete methods to manage speaking anxiety, craft messages that resonate, and become more “audience-obsessed” in everyday conversations. The discussion goes beyond presentations, covering small talk, one-on-ones, and how leaders can create trust through presence and active listening. Listen now to learn communication habits you can put to work immediately. Discover how to replace confusion with clarity and turn every message you deliver into aligned, confident action across your team. Download our guide: From Misunderstood to Magnetic: A Leader’s Guide to Clear Communication. https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/tlg-misunderstood-to-magnetic?x=j4G37p&lb-mode=overlay FranklinCovey’s world-class learning solutions—delivered Live-Online, On Demand, or Live In-Person—are designed to build exceptional leadership skills and enrich your culture at every level of your organization. To learn more, email us at [email protected], visit franklincovey.com, or call us at: 1-888-868-1776

Transcript

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0:00.0	First and foremost, you have to tailor your communication to your audience. You have to have a clear goal. To me, a goal has three parts, information, emotion, and action. What do you want people to know? How do you want them to feel? What do you want them to do? Anybody will be a better communicator if they have a clear goal in mind. And having a clear goal is predicated on what you want to say and who you're saying it to.
0:22.4	So it has an added benefit of forcing you to think about your audience.
0:26.3	If people have a goal, they will have more focus and they will make sure that their message is more targeted.
0:36.9	Hello and welcome to Franklin Covey on leadership. I'm your host, Will Hodling, Franklin Covey on leadership.
0:39.7	I'm your host, Will Hodling, Franklin Covey's head of product.
0:43.1	In these conversations, we talk with many of the world's leadership experts on the mistakes,
0:48.4	mindsets, and methods that help them become the people they are today.
0:51.9	We hope that their hard-earned insights help accelerate you
0:55.7	on your journey. Today's guest is Matt Abrahams. Matt Abrams is a lecture at Stanford
1:01.7	University's Graduate School of Business and one of the world's experts on effective
1:06.4	communication and public speaking. Matt is the author of two books, Think Faster and Talk Smarter,
1:12.8	and Speaking Up Without Freaking Out. Matt also hosts a widely regarded podcast about communication,
1:19.6	and he's advised and coach world leaders across both politics and business. In today's
1:25.9	conversation, we'll cover practical advice for how to become a better
1:29.3	communicator, discuss the ways in which communication is ultimately about connection, and give
1:35.2	you practical tips that you can leave with to communicate better today. Matt Abraham's,
1:39.9	welcome to Franklin Covey on leadership.
1:41.7	Excited to be here with you, Will. Thank you.
1:45.2	Wonderful.
1:46.9	I'm very excited for today's conversation.
1:50.1	So let's go ahead and dive right in.
1:54.2	You are famous for helping people be ready when they're not totally ready yet.
	...

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