Stop Talking So Much! Listening is the Key to Better Outcomes

In this episode, Stanford lecturer Matt Abrahams shares valuable insights about listening and communication from his book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You’re Put on the Spot  

Doctors are tasked with solving problems for their patients, but as Matt points out, it’s not hard to solve problems, it’s hard to find the right problems to solve.  

In this interview, we focus on asking better questions and sharpening our listening skills. Matt says that questions get the other person more invested in the problem itself and the desire to solve it. “When it comes to communication, we over index on the speaking part and we need to balance that out with the listening part,” he says. When it comes to establishing connections, building trust, and uncovering problems (all vital to patient care), we need to do more listening than talking. 

More about Matt at Mattabrahams.com