Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques - 297. Agency Over Anxiety: Communicating in Uncertain Times

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

Why the most effective communicators help people see not just what's changing, but why it matters to them.For Sinéad Bovell, effective communication isn’t just about explaining what’s coming next—it’s about giving people the confidence and agency to engage with it.Bovell is a futurist, founder of the tech education company WAYE, and an expert advisor to the United Nations AI Advisory Body. Known for making complex topics accessible to broad audiences, she has spent years helping leaders, organizations, and young people understand the implications of artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies. Her approach starts with a simple principle: meet people where they are and connect big ideas to what matters in their lives. “If you scare people too much, if you disempower them, they do unsubscribe from the very activities you need them to lean into.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Bovell joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss how to communicate complexity without overwhelming people and why skills like adaptability and judgment are becoming more valuable in the age of AI. From making emerging technologies more accessible to building trust through relevance and empathy, they discuss what it takes to help audiences engage with change rather than fear it.To listen to the extended Deep Thinks version of this episode, please visit FasterSmarter.io/premium.Episode Reference Links:Sinéad BovellConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> [e-mail] Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn Chapters:(00:00) - Introduction (01:00) - Explaining Complex Ideas (03:48) - The Future of Soft Skills (06:52) - Talking About AI Without Fear (10:33) - Storytelling for Young Audiences (12:46) - Reaching Young Audiences (15:01) - Career Pivots & Reinvention (16:53) - Becoming a Better Communicator (18:59) - The Final Three Questions (25:09) - Conclusion

Focusing on relevance and agency can transform your communication and connect your meaning to your audiences. My name is Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. Today I look forward to speaking with Shnade Ovel. Sheenade is a futurist and the founder of Way, a tech education company that prepares businesses and the next generation of leaders for our future shaped by advanced technologies. She is an 11-time United Nations speaker and serves as an expert advisor to the UN-AI advisory body. Sheenade helps bridge the gap between complex technological advancements and everyday understanding.

Welcome, Shehne. Thank you so much for joining me here in the theorist studios in New York City. I'm excited for our conversation. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. Should we get started? Yes, yes, I've been. Excellent.

You've been called the AI educator for the non-nerds because of your ability to take complex information and make it accessible. How do you do that? Are there certain frameworks that you rely on? How do you take complexity and make it accessible to people? Yeah, and I was actually surprised by that slogan myself when it came out. But I'd say you have to meet people where they are and with information that's actually relevant to them. So when it comes to technology, because that's something that I communicate about a lot, it can seem really overwhelming for people because people inherently assume if you don't have the technical skills or the coding skills or whatever it is of the technology you're speaking about, you're probably disqualified from the conversation. And that's not true. So you have to show people perhaps an example of something that would have seemed quite radical historically, a technology that they now use today fluently. And then also, how is this technology or the thing you're communicating culturally relevant to somebody's life?

When things are too abstract and you don't bring it down, it's hard for people to connect with it. So I always try to meet people where they are. And then I think there's a lot to say about the format. So is somebody finding you on a YouTube video or on something that's 90 seconds or something more formal to try to fit the medium? Because that's usually where the audience, that's how the audience expects some form of communication. communication or some form of style. So I try to be cognizant of those things. And then I'd say the final thing, if you're not passionate about the thing that you're delivering and you don't genuinely think it's important for people to know or you're not excited about it or concerned about it, that also

comes through in how you try to get somebody to understand something. So if it's not genuine and you are not actually excited about it, I don't really feel like it's important, that also shows. So the things that you see me talk about publicly are the things that I genuinely care about. I'm inspired by them or I think that they're important too. And your passion certainly comes out. I've seen you present a number of times and you clearly are passionate and knowledgeable, which are critical. So I heard you talk about several things there.

One, you have to meet your audience where they are, which means you have to understand and appreciate their level of knowledge on the topic. You have to try to make it relevant to them. They have to be able to see how it works. You rely on comparisons and analogies to connect. And then you also think, and I think this is really smart, to think about the channel through which they're accessing the information and try to conform to those expectations. So if you're meeting people on a quick reel or YouTube short, you can't go into too much detail, so you have to prioritize. So excellent.

And that advice, I think, holds true for anybody communicating about anything that's complex. You frequently note that soft skills appreciate over time while technical skills depreciate. As artificial intelligence takes over more of our lives, how can we better lean into those soft skills and how can leaders and managers put an emphasis on that for the people that work for them? Yeah, and this is a tricky one, right? Because we've spent the last 15 years hearing a lot about the more technical skills and how important they are. And it's not that they're not important. It's just that the half-life of the average technical skill is now between 2.5 to five years. Wow. So that just means if you are leading into

technical skills, you're going to have to expect to continue to upgrade and change. So when we think about the soft skills, and I don't even know if they're soft skills, because skills like self-directed learning, adaptability, judgment, these can be more challenging to learn. Right. They're quite hard. You have more opportunities to do so. You can exercise some of this just at home or in the grocery store, but they do appreciate overvalue because these are the skills that the tools that we're working alongside can't yet cultivate. So when it comes to leaders, first of all, you have to guide by incentives, right? So what type of work are you incentivizing? And this is something I actually do see in organization. So maybe a KPI or an OKR or some sort of benchmark doesn't yet account

for the fact that you want your employees to demonstrate a different type of skill. So you suddenly tell them communication is really important here. And there's no opportunity for that employee to deliver their presentation in a way that they can express themselves in a different format, aside from just some sort of email or some sort of attachment. So you do want to try to align the incentives with that directive if you can also demonstrate it. And then also give people examples to show why that skill is relevant. So if we're trying to get people to build judgment skills or build critical thinking, where does that matter in the their workflow and how they get evaluated.

And again, that comes back to the incentive systems because what people don't want to feel like they have to do is add more on top of something that they're not even getting evaluated on. I think inspiring people in that way, giving people examples, those are the areas that I think are important. And then we also just have to start talking more about the value of these softer skills or the non-technical skills and how centered they are today and going forward. Absolutely. The ability to take these skills that are non-technical and really learn them and apply them is really important.

And again, very astute to make sure that it's all about helping people understand the relevance of those skills, giving them opportunities to practice and incentives. It's another thing to support it, encourage it. And I heard you also say role model it so people see it. And take the time to discuss it. So many people, especially in the realm of communication, just assume that people know how to do it. We have to take the time to acknowledge and reward that too. So it's building not just the mandate, but building the infrastructure to support it. You have had amazing opportunities to communicate in lots of different situations. You're up in front of Fortune 500 companies, the UN. How do you instill your message around ethical use of technology, the importance of AI and foresight?

At the same time, avoid people getting really nervous, afraid, and just hunkering down. with the way the status quo is. How do you encourage people to adapt towards the future without scaring them? So I'd say the blanket approach, because it does, I do change, depending if I'm in front of a Fortune 500 leader or someone who's evaluated on different metrics or has different goals and incentives. But I'd say the theme behind my, I don't even have a strategy, but I think what suits fits well with me is if you scare people too much, if you disempower them, they do unsubscribe

from the very activities you need them to lean into. So you can only take people so far with showing the fear and the consequences. And you have to trust that when you are communicating something that is uncomfortable, something that is urgent, that people can follow you and you don't need to take them off the cliff. That they can see what the consequence is if we can to go down, let's say, the status quo without taking them to a point where it feels like there's no return, then you have to show how clear somebody does have agency that is listening. And so if I'm in a room, let's say, with world leaders and we're talking about a technology that seems like it's moving really quickly and it seems so foreign and out of our control

and unprecedented as a term we hear over and over, have we done this before? Was there a moment in history that the same people in the same people in the same person? in this room did something similar as radical, as profound. And so when you take people to those moments, they can start to see the path for themselves. When it comes to a Fortune 500 company, again, and constantly connect back to the incentives, if you are being evaluated by the stock market, that matters to you, right? And if it's going to show up in your bottom line, that's something that a leader, and of course they also care about fairness and ethics, but if you say, you're also perhaps missing 40% of a market by not addressing the bias in these algorithms.

That's really significant. So you can attach the fairness argument in addition, though, this is what also matters to you in quarter one, in quarter two. And you're leaving this on the table. So there's, I think, different approaches depending on who's in the room. But I'd say the theme is not to disempower people because then you do lose them. And that's the exact wrong action that you're trying to. to inspire people to take. A quick reminder to make sure you're following our show in whatever app you're listening

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And now, back to our conversation. There's a lot there I want to dig into. It starts with really appreciating that what you're talking about can be perceived as scary and as threatening. And once you understand that, then I think many of the techniques you mention are really important, making sure people have a sense of agency, connecting it to things that they might have done in the past when they've been challenged, helping them to see the incentives or in alignment. All of those make a lot of sense. You've built a massive digital platform to educate youth on the future of technology. What have you found to be the most effective storytelling techniques to reach that generation or storytelling techniques in general?

I mean, and this would again come back to what are the things that matter for that audience. So storytelling around education, skills, jobs, choices that they would be making in their day-to-day life. I tend to have that through line between, you know, whether it's substack or whether it's something that I'm doing that to 90-second video, again, meeting that audience where they are, but also showing them the path to the decisions that they're going to make today, connecting the storyline to their future, right? Because the futures that we're building today, we're actually giving it to that generation. So I think showing them that, that this is why this is something that's

important to you, even though it may feel like you're not in that decision-making room, by the time you get there, these are the decisions today that you're going to inherit. And this is why you need to pay attention. And this is how you can make a change. And then also making things fun and not always overly intellectualized just for the sake of it. Get to the point as well. People have things to do. You're also competing with a lot of other pieces of content or media streams. So respecting people's time, and I actually see it as that, not just communicating quickly because the medium says 90 seconds or less, but if someone's going to stop and listen to you and take that time, respect the time that they're giving you, right? Communicate the fact clearly, say the important

thing and strip away everything else, and deliver it in a way that makes sense to the audience that you're asking to lean in and listen. That respect piece, I think, is really important, especially when talking to younger folks who might feel they're left out or not respected in this. So taking the time to respect that you're listening, demonstrating or showing them how getting involved now will help with their futures and the decisions being made now to understand those will help you to determine that future that you live in and hopefully co-create. I think there can be the temptation to think while I'm speaking to a really young audience, I have to change the tone and they're only going to understand some things. And that's actually not true. Sometimes, you know,

they also want to be spoken to like the rest of the adults in the room because the message is just as serious for them. Or they feel like, you know, this matters for me too. So you don't have to cut off half of the important message because you think I'm too young to hear it. If it's important for my future, I qualify to listen to it. So sometimes my message is actually quite similar and so is the delivery. Amen to that. We don't have to talk down to people who are younger or who don't have the technical background, et cetera, find ways to connect, find ways to make it relevant. We'll be right back to finish our conversation. But first, a quick word from one of our sponsors.

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You did a little modeling in your career. What advice do you have to someone who's trying to rebrand themselves? and communicate the new way they are in the world? It really comes down to the fundamentals of business, right? The thing that makes you different, that is actually your competitive advantage. So sometimes we can feel like when we're changing lanes to what would seem on the outside towards a path that seems like

it doesn't connect to the thing that you're doing or you're making an entirely right turn when everybody else is going straight. That actually puts you at a unique intersection that nobody else operates on. That is a superpower in and of itself. So I think that is one area that I try to tell people. It doesn't matter how many zigs and zags in your career you want to make.

There's a way to connect those dots that make you unique. And that's what also can make you stand out. And you also learn a lot about the world and different markets based on the different audiences and worlds you interact with. It wasn't until I left business and went into. to fashion that I was inspired to talk more about business and more about technology and more about strategy because I realized who was being left out of that conversation. So sometimes it can surprise you what you discover about yourself and your skill set when you step into the unexpected.

And that's what I have found consistently in my career. And the more I'm in a position that seems like it's entirely unrelated to the one before it, the more the previous experience comes into play, and the more it becomes the strength. So that's how I've connected some of the dots in my career. I really like this notion of step into the unexpected, look for the intersectionality and what that does to make you unique. How have you communicated that, though? I can understand the items that you would want to communicate as a result, but how have you thought through how best to communicate that. Because many people listening, I think, have had some pivots, maybe not as dramatic as yours. I mean, I think everybody can relate

to being passionate about something or super curious about something and making the decision not to pursue it and perhaps regretting it. So for me, I chose to take that risk and make the decision to step into the unknown. And so I think that there's a through line that we've all, or we've all been at a point in our life in some way that we faced a trade-off or we faced a decision. And it seemed like one was a lot more foreign and one was a lot more unknown. And we all dealt with it in different ways. So for me, I think I communicate, you know, these were my curiosities, these were my passions. And I knew I had to follow that line. I knew that I had to take that leap. And that was the risk that I was comfortable and I was willing to take. And I think also

I equipped myself with a bit of a foundation so I could take a leap. And so that's something. But sometimes I'm also, these are the decisions that I made. And as Steve Jobs says, you know, the dots only connect when you look back. And that's one of those examples, I'd say. I like how you immediately connected this to something that other people are doing. Lots of us have passions that we might regret. And that's a great way to start. And it shows that you're somebody who's passionate and willing to to investigate and explore those. And we have varied, malted interests, right? No one is just one thing.

We're coming out of this industrialized economy where it feels like you are your job title, but that's actually not true. Most of us have many different interests and varied interests at that that seem unrelated to other people, but not to us. We are the through line in those ideas.

We are the through line. I like that. Before we end, I like to ask three questions. One I make up just for you and the other two I've been asking for a long time. Are you up for that? Let's do it. I am very impressed with not only your thinking, but the way in which you articulate your ideas. How did you learn and how do you continue to learn to communicate effectively? What do you do? I am constantly doing it. So whether that is making a social media video, and sometimes you are

actually moving through the knots of how do I actually say this in 60 seconds and to continuing to try to master that craft. I'm on stages quite a bit discussing some of these ideas, communicating them passionately with friends. And you don't have to be a professional communicator and get paid for it. But if there are things that interest you, a news story, geopolitics, sharing those ideas with people can start to force you to communicate them in a way that that audience, even if it's one person in the coffee shop, is going to understand. I'd say that that's one thing. The things I communicate or the things I am genuinely very passionate about. So I think that really helps. And I practice, I think that there's, for some people, they can grab a mic and it's very ad hoc. And sometimes I do that,

but I also have no problem with rehearsing something that's really important to me and getting it down pat in a way that I feel comfortable with. It doesn't work for everyone. But for me, I like to come prepared. And that's something that I tend to do. So the preparation, the repetition, the passion is what leads you to continue to develop the skills. And that's a good lesson for everybody. Question number two, who is a communicator that you admire and why? Steve Jobs is someone who I rewatch his speeches. I rewatch his announcements.

And I'm noticing the through line is people who make very intentional pauses. and whether that's planned or whether that's because they are genuinely thinking, and I think President Obama does it as well. And so those are the types of styles. I don't think I communicate anything like either of those two. But they are voices that I could listen to on repeat. And there's a rhythm. And it feels like there's a call to action,

even if there isn't one in the actual message, the call to action to come back and to listen and to learn and to be inspired. So I'd say those are two voices that I could put on repeat. The intentionality and the presence are what I hear you talking about, the ability to pause, the ability to make it sound like there's action to be done even if there isn't. We've heard those names before for very similar reasons, yes, absolutely. And can I ask you about the pause? So what is it with the power of the pause?

Is it intentional or does it seem like it's natural or should you encourage people to pause more? What we know is when somebody pauses, it allows. it allows the audience to reflect and catch up. So it does a service to the audience. It certainly can help a speaker to collect their thoughts and move forward. And we know from research and status and power that those who pause typically are perceived as having higher status and power as well. So one of the recommendations to somebody who's wanting to bolster their standing in a group might be to speak more slowly to pause a little longer because we typically assume somebody in a position of power and status do that.

The other thing that pausing does is it allows you to regulate your breathing. And a lot of the nervous tics that we have speaking too quickly, having our voice change, saying lots of filler words is a result of breathing too quickly. So pausing can be very important, not just for you before the audience that you're speaking to. But it has to be genuine. You can tell somebody who is purposely putting in pausing. pauses when they speak. So again, through practice repetition, getting feedback, as you mentioned, you can find what works for you. Without pausing, I'd like to ask you a final question.

What are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe? The topic has to matter to you or be something that you feel called to speak about. I'd say the second, what is the take-home message that you want people to be leaving with if there was just one idea. And sometimes I even say that in my talks if there was one thing that you listened and I announced the thing. And I would say the third in effective communication. For me, a sense of calmness, people can really feel if you feel uncertain or if you feel somewhat anxious, so I try to be as calm as possible. And that's what has worked for me. So I'd say being passionate about the topics, the take-home message, and delivering it with a

sense of being comfortable with the things you're saying, not necessarily comfortable in front of people or on live television, but with the things that you're delivering. I think that that helps. Those listening in know I love acronyms and alliteration. And so if you allow me, I'm going to take the third thing you said and reframe it a little bit, but it's about topic, something you're passionate about. It's being clear on the takeaway, and it's finding the tone that fits for you. So it's the three T's. So thank you for that. And thank you for this entire conversation. You've opened my mind and opening the mind of those listening into the power of possibility, but the responsibility we have to think about how we bring others along and how we can have a sense of agency. And your focus

on really helping make things be relevant to people and inspiring while being honest and direct are really important. So thank you so much for your time. Thanks for the thoughtful questions. This has been a pleasure. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Think Fast Talk Smart, the podcast. To hear more interesting and insightful episodes like this one, be sure to check out our back catalog of episodes in your favorite player or at FasterSmarter.io. This episode was produced by Catherine Reed, Ryan Campo, and me, Matt Abraham's. Our music is from Floyd Wonder,

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