Thinking Faster and Talking Smarter When You’re on the Spot
Think back to the last time you had to communicate in the moment with no preparation. An unexpected question during a meeting. Chitchat with your boss’s boss in the elevator. Feedback for your colleague in a check-in. How did it go? Did you shine, or did you deliver a lackluster response?
For most of my life, I’ve been on the front lines of spontaneous speaking. Thanks to my last name (Abrahams), I’ve always occupied the alphabetical hot seat. Going first in elementary school show-and-tell and solving high school algebraic equations at the board provided me ample practice to become more comfortable and confident in my impromptu speaking.
Years later, this skill was called to good use when the deans of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business—where I teach strategic communication—asked me to solve a pressing problem. Our talented and prepared Master of Business Administration (MBA) students kept freezing when placed on the spot with cold-call questions from their professors. To address this issue, I created a methodology to help anyone improve their spontaneous communication, and I’m going to share it here now (no MBA required).
