A Reflection on the Lecture：Think Fast Think Smart Communication Techniques

（Southwestern University of Finance and Economics，School of Foreign Language for Business，Chengdu，Sichuan， 611130 ）

【Abstract】：”Think Fast， Think Smart- Communication Techniques”， a great lecture impressed us a lot focuses on how to speak effectively in spontaneous speaking and has given us some practical techniques. This paper aims at explaining those main techniques mentioned in speech which can help us be a competent communicator.

【Key words】： Lecture； Speaking； Technique；

1.Brief introduction of the Lecture

The lecture Think fast， Think smart-communication techniques showed us a lot how to communicate naturally and smoothly in public， it can be briefly divided into two parts as follow.

1.1 Few techniques help to get rid of anxiety

Anxiety gives us energy and helps us focus. We need to manage our anxieties because it will take your audience comfortable. Only when they are comfortable， they can receive your message. So there are three specific techniques are listed to help us feel more comfortable.

Firstly， when we begin this feeling， we simply greet our anxiety and say “ Hey， this is me being nervous.” By simply greeting your anxiety， it may will not reduce your anxiety but will stop it from going up.

Secondly， we need to regard presenting as not a performance but a conversation. Some concrete things we can do firstly is to start with questions in a very natural and biological way. It will get your audience involved and make it feel to you as a presenter in conversation.

In addition to that， you need be Present-Oriented which means we should bring ourselves into the present moment， such as saying tongue twisters.

1.2 Ground rules help become effective when speaking in spontaneous situation.

There are four steps that are listed to make you feel more comfortable when speaking in spontaneous situation.

Step one is to get out of your own way. In fact， the very first thing that gets people’s way is themselves because we all want to be perfect. But these things are burdens. So you can shout the wrong name of anything around you to train your brain get out of their own way and just remember dare to be a dull will bring you to greatness.

Step two is to reframe things as an opportunity which means you need to regard the speaking opportunity as an opportunity rather than challenge and threat. In addition， we should keep in mind that “yes and...”could open up tremendous opportunities because it approaches you to take this situation.

Step three is to slow down and listen. We often jump ahead and listen just enough to think we’ve got it and go ahead studying to think about what we are gonna respond and what we respond.

Step four is to tell a story which is the key to successful spontaneous speaking and planned speaking means you have to respond in a way with structure. There are two of the most useful structures to communicate message. One is “ problem， solution， benefit ” structure. Equally well， the other structure is what， so. what and now what structure.

2. Discussion and Conclusion

This speech made us think a lot about how to delivery a spontaneous speech and also how to be a good listener. In fact， the way to become a effective communicator is by actually communicating.

On the one hand， fundamentally as a communicator， our job is to be in service of audience. In order to be an effective speaker regardless of whether it’s planned or spontaneous， we need to have our anxieties controlled. We could take a breathe and face our anxiety. But then in reality， most of us， when we are presenting， we feel we have to do it right and feel like we are performing. Concerning this problem， we should take it as a real conversation with conversational language and finally bring ourselves into the present moment. What’s more significant is to follow the 4 steps get out of your own way. At the end of this speech， the professor himself has given us a structure of the speech. I think it’s a necessary because it’s not only a speaker’s conclusion but also will enhance listener’s listening efficiency and make them have a clear structure of the whole presentation.

On the other hand， as a listener， we should not only devote ourselves to the conversation or speech we should also take three basic questions into consideration before listening： What must i get out of this listening situation， What would i like to get out of this situation， What should the other person out of my listening to them. In my perspective concerning this speech， i think we must have a clear understanding of “problem， solution， benefit”or “what， so what， now what”structure about what we are listening and get the key word or key point such as these title of the four steps and techniques. Only when we catch the main point， we can respond appropriately. And then concerning about what would i like to get out of listening situation， it may depend on your purpose and topic of this conversation or speech. As a simple example， when you listen to a weather forecast， you would like to focus on the real weather of your living area other than how clouds change or stuff like that. That means we would like to get what we concern. Beyond that， we should make it clear what should the other people out of our listening to them. In this speech we listened has mentioned that the speaker should make themselves comfortable and then can make their audience too. From my point of view， i also think as a effective listeners we should firstly show our respect for speaker and the basic listening rules as steady eyes contact， smiling and positive will give a positive feedback to other person and effect them to have a better conversational phenomenon and achieve our goals.