Can you really trust a machine to write your emails just because it sounds smart...ish?
Think Fast, Talk Smart flips its format to celebrate the updated edition of Think Faster, Talk Smarter. Host Matt Abrahams becomes the guest, and Lorraine K. Lee, author of Unforgettable Presence and a fan favorite from episode 202, takes the mic to ask Matt about the book's new chapter on artificial intelligence. Matt names the problem plainly: AI can polish our words so well that nobody is sure a human wrote them. He lays out why polished text collides with authentic communication, how the same tools can drain or deepen empathy, and why those who master spontaneous communication will outpace those leaning on the machine.
Together Matt and Lorraine discuss:
• Employers are reverting to in-person interviews, and schools are bringing back the old 'blue books'
• A five-step framework that turns your verbal flaws into evidence of your human-ness
• A simple routine shows how to use AI as a sparring partner for the Q&A that most people never practice.
• What "empathy atrophy" is and how an ordinary email can trigger it.
• The difference between AI as a thought partner and AI as a ghostwriter
• A student-built voice clone of Matt now answers calls around the clock that you can use to start improving one specific skill.
Matt spent a career teaching people to erase their ums, tighten their phrasing, and sound polished. And now, those very cracks have become the proof! So, he's built a whole framework on it, and once you see what he's pointing at, the polish starts to look like the tell.
About The Guest
Lorraine K. Lee is a keynote speaker and the founder of RISE Learning Solutions, where she helps managers and high-potential professionals raise their visibility and impact and work. A former founding editor at LinkedIn, she is the author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen , Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. She first joined the show in episode 202 and returns to take the host’s chair, interviewing Matt about the updated edition of Think Faster, Talk Smarter.
About Matt
Matt Abrahams is a leading communication expert, lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford GSB, and host of the award-winning Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast. He has coached presenters at TED, the World Economic Forum, and the UN Secretary-General's office, and his online talks have garnered millions of views worldwide. He is the author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter and Speaking Up without Freaking Out, two bestselling guides to confident, spontaneous communication.
Key Quotes
• "We no longer can be assured that when we see a communication from someone that it came from them." - Matt Abrahams (01:40)
• "These ticks do add something: a sense of humanness. Our imperfections reveal that we're human." - Matt Abrahams (05:55)
• "My MBA students train the AI to ask them questions, and then they practice answering, much like a boxer might have a sparring partner." - Matt Abrahams (12:29)
• "Acknowledging doesn't mean you agree. It just means I heard you." - Matt Abrahams (15:52)
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:15 Who Said That?!
03:13 5 Ways to Prove You're Human
06:48 Putting the UM in HUMAN
08:25 Empathy Atrophy
10:40 How Matt Uses AI
15:01 The CLEAR Framework for Heated Moments
18:10 Say Hi to Matt AI-brahams!
21:01 M̶a̶t̶t̶'̶s̶ Lorraine's 3 Questions
25:07 Conclusion
Relevant Links:
• Lorraine K. Lee: https://www.fastersmarter.io/guests/lorraine-k-lee/
• Lorraine's book Unforgettable Presence: https://www.fastersmarter.io/unforgettable-presence/
• Think Faster, Talk Smarter: https://www.fastersmarter.io/think-faster-talk-smarter
Episode References:
• Ep. 202: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mr6S7wI4R8 / https://www.fastersmarter.io/202-own-your-brand-how-to-communicate-with-presence-and-impact/
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