235. Refine, Reframe, Repeat: Make Your Communication a Slam Dunk

The road to mastery is paved with small improvements every day.

Communicating can feel daunting at times. What does it take to find your voice in the moments that matter most? As Chiney Ogwumike says, “There is freedom on the other side of your fear.”

As a professional basketball player, NBA and WNBA analyst for ESPN, and advocate for gender equality in sports, Ogwumike faces many situations where communication is critical. For her, achieving confidence in communication is the same as honing any other skill—embracing failure and refinement through repetition. “The best things in life are things you work out over long periods of time,” she says. “Great people, great communicators, anyone that's working at something, show up each and every day and just chip away, chip away, chip away, until they turn that weakness into a strength.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Ogwumike and host Matt Abrahams discuss how practice and preparation can equip us for better communication, transforming fear into confidence, perfectionism into authenticity, and weakness into strength.

To listen to the extended Deep Thinks version of this episode, please visit FasterSmarter.io/premium.

Episode Reference Links:

• Chiney Ogwumike
• Ep.166 Why Relying on Talent Alone Will Fail You 
• Ep.153 Listen Up, Leaders: A Record-Setting Coach’s Guide to Communication 

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• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (03:03) - Communication on the Court
• (04:45) - Performing Under Pressure
• (06:54) - Lessons from Great Coaches
• (09:04) - Embracing Imperfection and Authenticity
• (12:26) - Strategies for Effective On-Air Communication
• (16:59) - The Final Three Questions
• (19:52) - Conclusion

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