245. Mindful Messages: Leveraging the Power of Presence

Summary

Podcast Summary: Think Fast Talk Smart – Episode 245

Title: Mindful Messages: Leveraging the Power of Presence
Host: Matt Abrahams
Guest: Dr. Deepak Chopra
Release Date: November 25, 2025

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Overview

This insightful episode delves into the vital role of presence and mindful communication in both personal and professional arenas. Host Matt Abrahams engages world-renowned physician and spiritual teacher Dr. Deepak Chopra in a rich discussion about how cultivating presence, setting clear intentions, and practicing “conscious communication” can resolve conflict, foster creativity, and promote holistic well-being. Chopra introduces practical frameworks and memorable heuristics, explores technological advances in communication (including his new AI tool), and reflects on the communication habits of great historical figures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Essence of Presence in Communication

Timestamp: 02:32–04:17

• Defining Presence:
  Dr. Chopra underscores that presence is fundamental to meaningful communication but is often overshadowed by the "ego mind."
• Four A's of Presence:
  • Attention: Deep, nonjudgmental listening.
  • Affection: Empathy, compassion, joy, and equanimity in conversations.
  • Appreciation: Recognizing the uniqueness of every interaction.
  • Acceptance (without attachment): Express your views without being attached to them or trying to change others.
• Practical Mindfulness:
  • Knitting mindfulness into conversation by noticing your breath, sensations, or simply asking yourself, "Am I present right now?"

“You bring presence in conversations when you have deep listening without judgment…when you bring the element of empathy and compassion and joy and equanimity…when you have appreciation for what you're doing…when you have radical acceptance.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (03:15)

2. Reframing Conflict as Opportunity

Timestamp: 04:17–09:29

• Treat Adversaries with Respect:
  Respect prevents lasting harm; insult is unforgettable.
• Emotional Intelligence in Conflict:
  • Acknowledge your own and others’ feelings.
  • Feel and show compassion for both sides.
• Conscious Communication:
  • Focus on shared needs and creative solutions, not “being right.”
  • Draws on nonviolent communication (Marshall Rosenberg), game theory (“win-win” outcomes), and the wisdom of diverse teams.
• Model of Creative Teams:
  Maximum diversity, shared vision, complementary strengths, and storytelling foster innovation—even in conflict.

“If I insult you and if I humiliate you, you'll never forgive me. So you start with respect.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (05:08)

“If you have shared vision, maximum diversity...and a platform where we share our strengths and complement our strengths...there's a creative solution to everything that exists.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (08:15)

3. The Power and Process of Intention

Timestamp: 10:27–12:27

• Intentions Shape Interaction:
  Intention is partly neurological but ultimately a matter of consciousness, fueled by authenticity, integrity, and higher purpose.
• Manifesting Outcomes:
  When intention stems from authenticity and alignment with higher purpose, “consciousness takes over” to bring about success through synchronicity.
• Effortless Accomplishment:
  Advocacy for “do less and accomplish more...do nothing, accomplish everything.”

“Once you introduce the intention, then consciousness takes over and organizes its fulfillment without any effort on your part...through synchronicity, through meaningful coincidences, through good luck, through what is called being at the right place at the right time. What the spiritual traditions call grace.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (11:36)

4. Technology and Personalization: Deepak Chopra AI

Timestamp: 12:27–14:29

• Small Language Model, Deep Wisdom:
  Differentiated from large language models, this AI is trained exclusively on Chopra's 97 books and personal content.
• Personalization:
  • Responses are tailored based on personal input; supports multiple languages and voices (including Chopra’s own).
  • Future versions will include more global reach.
• Creativity Through AI "Hallucination":
  Even AI mistakes can spark creativity.

“The more personal you ask the questions, the more personal the answers will be to help you.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (13:25)

5. Deepak Chopra’s Communication Toolset

Timestamp: 16:17–17:39

• Articulating for Impact:
  Chopra deliberately strives for three qualities in his communication:
  • Correctness: “I don't misstate any facts.”
  • Clarity & Articulation: Clear, memorable messaging.
  • Helpfulness: Communication must be of benefit.
  • If a message isn’t helpful, “I don’t bother with that.”

“I have very carefully over the years cultivated my communication to be articulate and clear and helpful. If it's not helpful, I don't bother.”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (16:59)

6. Communicators Chopra Admires

Timestamp: 17:39–18:20

• Cites inspirational figures such as Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address) for their ability to convey complex messages with clarity and hope.

7. The Three Ingredients for Successful Communication

Timestamp: 18:37–19:00

1. Necessity: “Is it necessary?”
2. Truth: “Is it true?”
3. Helpfulness: “Is it helpful, purposeful?”

“Number one, is it necessary? ...Number two, is it true? And number three, is it helpful, purposeful, truthful and helpful?”
— Dr. Deepak Chopra (18:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Conflict:
  “Creativity never comes if you entrench yourself—then it's an algorithm. You're a biological robot and I can press the button and get the right response…” (10:10)
• On Presence:
  “Just asking yourself right now, is there presence in this conversation will bring you to it.” (04:05)
• On Communicative Intent:
  “Once you introduce the intention, then consciousness takes over…” (11:36)
• On AI and Creativity:
  “Large language models tend to hallucinate, which I like...Every time the model hallucinates, I get a creative idea—that's not a bad thing.” (13:09)

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Episode Structure — Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction and Guest Welcome: 01:32–02:28
• Practices for Mindful Presence: 02:32–04:17
• Transforming Conflict through Conscious Communication: 04:17–09:29
• The Role and Setting of Intention: 10:27–12:27
• Deepak Chopra AI and Technology: 12:27–14:29
• Clear and Helpful Messaging: 16:17–17:39
• Inspirational Communicators: 17:39–18:20
• Recipe for Successful Communication: 18:37–19:00

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Takeaways

• Presence in communication is about attention, empathy, appreciation, and radical acceptance.
• Conflict is an opportunity for innovation if addressed with conscious, collaborative communication.
• Setting intentions with authenticity and higher purpose opens creative, synchronistic pathways.
• Technology can extend the power of mindful messaging, but should be rooted in personal wisdom.
• The best communicators seek necessity, truth, and helpfulness in every message.

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For Further Growth

To build on the ideas explored in this episode, especially the intersection of self-actualization and communication, listeners are encouraged to reference Episode 138 with Graham Weaver, as mentioned in the closing segment.

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Host closing reflection:
“The understanding of presence and conscious communication is profound and can really change not just our own lives, but the lives of those around us. Thank you for giving us some insight and helping us understand the value that communication truly can have.”
— Matt Abrahams (19:10)

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End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

Hi Matt here. Just a quick note to share that we have a lot of amazing things happening before the year ends. We have a special 250th episode set for mid December, along with our tradition of releasing our top 10 learnings of the Year. Finally, I am really excited to unveil our new Think Fast Talk Smart learning community. Here's to a great end to 2025. Thank you for listening. Now a word from one of our sponsors. Their support allows us to bring you quality content free of charge. If you've ever thought I know I can do more, but something's holding me back. You're not alone. Whether you're navigating career growth, seeking better balance, or wanting to communicate with more confidence, coaching can help you bridge the gap between intention and action. At Strawberry Me, you'll get matched with a professional coach who's trained to help you clarify your goals, build lasting confidence, and make intentional choices. Coaching Coach professionally and personally. This is not therapy. It's not consulting. It's a thought partnership designed to help you take action with more clarity and purpose. I strongly believe in the value of coaching. All of us can benefit from the.

[B]

Help of a coach.

[A]

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[B]

Creative and conscious communication can not only help us resolve our conflicts, but can help us live a better, more connected life. 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'm excited to speak with Deepak Chopra. Dr. Chopra is a physician and a leading authority on integrative well being in spiritual intelligence. He is a clinical professor of Family medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and he serves as a Senior Scientist for Gallup Organization. He is the Author of over 97 books, many of which are New York Times bestsellers. He he is the co founder of Cyberhuman AI and Deepak Chopra AI, a new AI tool available to all. Well, welcome Dr. Chopra. I look forward to our conversation. I have been a big follower of your work for many years.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Shall we get started?

[C]

Yes, of course.

[A]

Excellent.

[B]

Your work emphasizes the importance of presence and mindfulness. What practices do you recommend? To cultivate presence in our communication and our interaction with others.

[C]

To make any communication meaningful, we need presence. Presence is fundamental, but it is overshadowed by the ego mind. Most of us do not bring presence in Our conversations. You bring presence in conversations. When you have deep listening without judgment, we call it attention. You bring presence when you bring the element of empathy and compassion and joy and equanimity. That's called affection. So attention, affection. Third thing you bring presence is when you have appreciation for what you're doing. Because every conversation is unique, Every conversation and every encounter is unique. And finally, you bring presence when you have radical acceptance. You're not trying to change another person's point of view. You're expressing your point of view, but you're not attached to it. Then that's present. Of course, mindfulness practices being aware of your breath, being aware of your bodily sensations. Once in a while, asking yourself, am I present? Okay, all those things will bring you to the present indirectly. Just asking yourself right now, is their presence in this conversation will bring you to it.

[B]

I appreciate how you delineated all the aspects of presence. And anybody listening knows that I love things that are memorable. And all of yours begin with the letter A. Attention, affection, appreciation, acceptance without attachment. And then the test you just shared with us, which is just asking, is there presence here? You've mentioned that conflicts present a unique opportunity for growth and understanding. Can you elaborate on how we can reframe our conflicts or leverage our conflicts to bring us to a better place?

[C]

Whoever your adversary is, treat them with respect, because if you don't, you lose them in the first few minutes. I can rob you of your money and you might forgive me, but if I insult you and if I humiliate you, you'll never forgive me. So you start with respect. You understand emotional intelligence, which means you understand what the other person feels. You understand what you feel. You have compassion for them and for yourself. Because without compassion, there is no healing or communication. And you have the intention that you will resolve the conflict. And therefore, if you use emotional intelligence, you refrain from belligerence. You understand the dynamics of conscious communication. What is my perception right now? What's happening? What am I perceiving? What am I feeling? Okay, obviously, in conflicts, everyone feels insecure and fearful. How do I maximize the outcome? So I feel better? So what am I observing? What am I feeling? What is the need here? And how do we fulfill the need for both parties? This conscious communication I've refined in my work. And again, I give credit to an author, Marshall Rosenberg, who wrote a book, money years ago, on conflict resolution, and it was called nonviolent communication. So you use all the principles of nonviolent communication. You use game theory, which says, let's make it a Game where everybody wins. We use conscious communication and we know, refrain from dogma and being right and all that. All we want is the best outcome for everyone, which means peace, prosperity, abundance for everyone. And in the end, a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier and joyful world. We can resolve any conflict and we can come up with a creative solution for anything that you consider adversity. So there are now social scientists who say, if you have shared vision, number one, inner leadership, shared vision, maximum diversity of opinion and talent and storytelling, a spiritual and emotional bond. And when we strengthen and complement each other's strengths, as in a good soccer team, everybody's something else, but they're all good at what they're doing. Or in India in a cricket team, you know, everybody has a role, so you maximize everybody's strengths. That shared vision, maximum diversity, complementing each other's strengths and having a platform, even online or offline, doesn't matter. Where we share our strengths and complement our strengths and root for each other, there's a creative solution to everything that exists. I learned this as a physician when we had difficult patients. We had something called grand rounds. So let's say I had a difficult cancer patient. Of course, I want the cancer specialist to be part of the solution. They know more about cancer than anyone else. But if I bring in a psychiatrist, a generalist, a doctor, dermatologist, a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist, you'd say, what has that to do with cancer? And what that has to do with cancer or any disease is people who don't know too much think outside the box. And so when you compliment everybody's opinions, suddenly a creative solution emerges. And I call it a spiritual solution because creativity and spirituality go together.

[B]

That is a very robust answer to the value that conflict can bring to our own personal growth and understanding. What I heard from you is that it's all about conscious communication. That's inclusive, that's compassionate, that's creative. And by leveraging that, as you said, we can find the win, win and solve any decision.

[C]

The ultimate win win peace, prosperity, justice and good health. Because ultimately all this affects our health, right? The conflict, it causes inflammation in the body.

[B]

What I hear is that in this approach to resolving conflict, it's not about my position and me being right and you being wrong. It's about us truly collaborating, connecting and communicating to achieve the ultimate win, win. And many of us, I believe, entrench ourselves in our position, which work exactly against what you're advocating for.

[C]

Creativity never comes. If you entrench yourself, then it's an algorithm. You're a biological robot and I can press the button and get the right response and manipulate you to my advantage, which the world does with people who tend to be narcissistic or self important, a bully.

[B]

You highlight the power of intention in your work. How does one set a clear intention and how does that impact how we interact with others and communicate? What's the role of intention in all of that?

[C]

Intention, by the way, is part of the conversation in the hard problem of consciousness. So when you say intention, your brain actually records that somewhere as a neural correlate. However, at its source, intention is not orchestrated by the brain. It's also orchestrated by consciousness. Okay? And if it is done with integrity, with authenticity, with responsibility. So these are very important words. Integrity means you're not pretending to be who you're not, and authenticity goes with it. And if you make an intention, you promise to live up to it authentically. Integrity, authenticity. But the intention has to have a higher purpose. It's not because I can win the conversation, but if it has a higher purpose, if it has integrity and authenticity. Okay, Integrity means I live up to my word, authenticity. I'm not pretending to be who I'm not. Once you introduce the intention, then consciousness takes over and organizes its fulfillment without any effort on your part. And how it does that is through synchronicity, through meaningful coincidences, through good luck, through what is called being at the right place at the right time. What the spiritual traditions call grace.

[B]

So forming that intention from the right place opens up the possibility of the very things that you are hoping to.

[C]

Achieve 100% without much effort. It's called do less and accomplish more and ultimately do nothing, accomplish everything.

[B]

I love the idea of accomplishing more with doing less and just taking the time to have a genuine intention to help. I want to share something I'm very excited about. In the work that you're doing, beyond the writings and the posts that you do, you've created a new AI tool, Deepak Chopra AI. Can you share a little bit about this tool and what its purpose is?

[C]

Yeah. So Deepak Chopra AI, which you can access just on your browser. And it's not a large language model. So, you know, large language models give you a lot of information and then you have to sort it out because some of it is useless. You might occasionally think a lot of it is useless. It's too much information. Large language models tend to hallucinate, which I like, by the way, because hallucination is a way to tap into creativity. Every time. The large language model hallucinates. I get a creative idea that's not a bad thing. But my Deepak Chopra AI is a small language model which is 97 of my books. All the books are written. It will ultimately access this conversation too. So when you ask it a question, it uses my material. Furthermore, the answers are very personal. The more personal you ask the questions, the more personal the answers will be to help you. And now we've trained the model to speak in my accent, in my voice, in Arabic, in Spanish, in Hindi, soon in Portuguese and Chinese. So you could ask the question in any language globally and you would get a personal answer and you could engage with, even engage it with the meditation.

[B]

What a wonderful tool to help people around the world. I personally am benefiting from speaking with you directly, but can see many uses when I don't have access to you.

[A]

We'll be right back to finish our conversation, but first we're going to take a quick break for a message from our sponsors. These sponsorships support the cost of making our show, allowing us to bring it to you free of charge. Hi, Matt here. I strongly believe in helping people and making impact in people's lives. Think Fast Talk Smart is driven by this value. But how do you measure success, especially when donating to non profits? This is where GiveWell comes in. GiveWell has spent 18 years researching global health and poverty alleviation and only directs funding to the highest impact opportunities they've found. Over 150,000 donors have trusted GiveWell to direct more than two and a half billion billion and rigorous evidence suggests those donations have saved over 300,000 lives and improved millions more. You can find all of GiveWell's research and recommendations for [e-mail] they don't take a cut from your tax deductible donation thanks to donors who sponsor their research. If this is your first gift through GiveWell, you can have your donation matched up to $100 before the end of the year or as long as matching funds last. To claim your match, go to givewell.org, pick podcast and enter Think Fast Talk Smart Communication Techniques at checkout. Make sure they know that you heard about GiveWell from Think Fast Talk Smart to get your donation matched Again, that's givewell.org, code thinkfast talk smart communication techniques to donate or find out more.

[B]

Well, Dr. Chopra, before we end, I'd like to ask you three questions. One I create just for you and one I've been asking people across this podcast for all the many years we've been doing this. Are you up for that?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So my first question is, you are a very articulate communicator yourself. You use several tools to help. You use analogies. You position things that start with the same letter or things that have some rhyming to them to help. Can you reflect for us for just a little bit about what you do to make sure that your messages are clearly understood? Because you certainly are an expert at it. What do you think about when you think about how can I clearly communicate this?

[C]

I sell words for a living, so my profession is selling language and words. So I have very carefully over the years cultivated my communication to be articulate and clear and helpful. If it's not helpful, I don't bother with that. I want it to be helpful. I want it to be correct so I don't misstate any facts. And that is easy to check up now on facts. And number two is clear, articulate, and number three, it's helpful. Otherwise why bother? Okay. So with those things in mind and bringing presence to my communication.

[B]

Thank you for that helpful answer. Question number two, who is a communicator that you admire and why?

[C]

I have admired communicators like Obama, admired communicators in the past like Nelson Mandela, Bishop Dudu, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr. Abraham Lincoln, you know, the Gettysburg Address. If you want to be inspired in the time of a crisis and listen to the Gettysburg Address. Right. These are amazing communicators and I've studied them and I try to model them and even improve on them.

[B]

Wonderful. All very good, effective communicators who have had very challenging topics to communicate. My final question for you. What are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe?

[C]

Number one, is it necessary? Whatever I'm going to communicate, is it necessary? Because half the time we just shoot the breeze and it might be entertaining, but it's not necessary. So number one, is it necessary? Number two, is it true? And number three, is it helpful, purposeful, truthful and helpful?

[B]

You have been all three of those in our conversation today. Thank you very much, Dr. Chopra. The understanding of presence and conscious communication is profound and can really change not just our own lives, but the lives of those around us. Thank you for giving us some insight and helping us understand the value that communication truly can have.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast to learn more about self actualization and communication. Please listen to episode 138 with Graham Weaver. This episode was produced by Kathryn Reed Ryan Campos and me, Matt Abrahams. Our music is from Floyd Wonder with special thanks to Podium podcast company. Please find us on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe and rate us. Also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and check out fastersmarterio for deep dive videos, English language learning content and our newsletter. Please consider our premium offerings for extended deepthinks episodes, Ask Matt Anythings and much more at fastersmarter IO Premium.

[A]

I wanted to share with you that over the past few months I've had the amazing opportunity of talking to listeners across the globe about the impact the podcast had has had on them. I love learning how people are applying the principles and concepts that we cover on the podcast and the impact that it has had on their lives. It is truly inspiring. Speaking on behalf of all of us that bring you the show, we thank you for your support. We look forward to bringing you new episodes, new techniques and deeper knowledge and we ask for your support. It takes time and effort to put this show on the air. Please keep your ideas coming and and if you can, we'd love for you to join our premium. Thank you. And here's to another 200 episodes.