Make Numbers Count: How to Translate Data for Your Audience

In this interview with podcast host Matt Abrahams, Chip Heath talks about ways that data and statistics can be used to illuminate — or obscure — our message.

How to Master the Seven-Step Problem-Solving Process

Structured problem solving can be used to address almost any complex challenge in business or public policy.

What the Pros Know About Public Speaking

Can anxiety be good for you? How do I start and end my talk? Graduate School of Business Lecturer Matt Abrahams shares what he knows about crafting meaningful presentations that make lasting impressions.

Designing Persuasive Charts

Even small decisions can have a big impact.

‘Originals’: How Anyone Can Become a Trailblazer

A new book by Wharton management professor Adam Grant challenges our assumptions about what it takes to generate and champion original ideas in ourselves and others. In Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Grant reveals what we can learn from entrepreneurs and other trailblazers to help us think differently and to make our voices heard.

Tom Wujec: Got a wicked problem? First, Tell Me How You Make Toast

Making toast doesn’t sound very complicated — until someone asks you to draw the process, step by step. Tom Wujec loves asking people and teams to draw how they make toast, because the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest, most complicated problems at work. Learn how to run this exercise yourself, and hear Wujec’s surprising insights from watching thousands of … [ Read more ]

Carmine Gallo: Three Secrets All Inspiring Messages Share

Carmine Gallo shares the three simple secrets all inspiring messages share, and how inspiring executives and entrepreneurs tell their brand or product story in a way that’s understandable, memorable and emotional.

Leadership Is a Contact Sport

Developing as a leader is a difficult endeavor. It’s not easy, but I’ve developed a leadership development model that has now proven to work with thousands and thousands of people. This model is just eight steps: Ask, Listen, Think, Thank, Respond, Involve, Change, Follow Up.

Adding Too Much Value

A classic problem of smart, successful people is Adding Too Much Value. This bad habit can be defined as the overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion. Adding Too Much Value is common among leaders who are used to running the show. It is extremely difficult for successful people to listen to other people tell them something that they already know without … [ Read more ]

Deborah Gruenfeld, “Acting with Power”

Is it more important to say the right thing or act the right way? Professor Gruenfeld provides compelling research about how we perceive power in our relationships, examining the words we use, non-verbal cues and the ways in which we communicate. She shares how we can most effectively get our message across.

Keith Ferrazzi – Why Relationships Are Crucial to Success

In this interview, Keith Ferrazzi talks about the importance of making a people plan; how to learn to become more generous with those around you, and what to do when your generosity is met with skepticism.

Workshop: Compelling and Confident Communication

Communication is critical to success in business and life! Concerned about an upcoming interview? Anxious when asked to provide your thoughts during a meeting? Fearful of giving a presentation? Then, you are not alone. Many of us are uneasy about speaking in public. Matt Abrahams delivers a workshop designed to provide you with several practical techniques you can use to communicate more confidently.

Givers vs. Takers: The Surprising Truth about Who Gets Ahead

A colleague asks you for feedback on a report. A LinkedIn connection requests an introduction to one of your key contacts. A recent graduate would like an informational interview. New research from Wharton management professor Adam Grant reveals that how you respond to these requests may be a decisive indicator of where you will end up on the ladder of professional success. Grant recently spoke … [ Read more ]

Michael Mauboussin on the ‘Success Equation’

How do we know which of our successes and failures can be attributed to either skill or luck? That is the question that investment strategist Michael J. Mauboussin explores in his book The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing. Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant recently sat down with Mauboussin to talk about the paradox of skill, the conditions for … [ Read more ]

Baba Shiv: How to Make Better Decisions

Baba Shiv demystifies the brain chemistry that controls our decision making, and explains how you can regulate it to make better decisions. He also uses the latest neuroscience research to answer the question, “Is it better to make decisions in the morning or the afternoon?”

Thinking about the optimism bias: Tali Sharot at TED2012

Neuroscientist Tali Sharot comes on stage to discuss the “optimism bias.” It’s a topic that she’s been studying in her lab and she claims that 80% of us experience it. “It” being the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of good things happening to us. As she puts it: “we’re more optimistic than realistic, and we’re oblivious about it.”