How to Articulate Your Thoughts Clearly?

[Zest4Life]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been watching Leo’s videos for 6-7 years and I’m amazed by how well he speaks.

His videos are 2 hours long (without editing) and he doesn’t seem to struggle with his thoughts. 

I find it hard to express myself the way I want to. When I write emails, I use tools like Grammarly, ChatGPT, or QuillBot to help me reword my sentences.

But when I talk to someone, I lose track of what I want to say.

How do you learn to speak so clearly?

PS: I'm reading a lots of books, but it didn't help me much.

[Juan]

  For me it helped being on a high-school specialized on Radio and TV. What we did there was a lot of run-downs which is like a map of how any recording production will run (with their exact dialogue or at least the most important key points).

  I have no doubt that Leo improvises a lot so that’s important too, I guess he once said on the TOE interview that he has like a screen to read the main points then improvise a long the way. I think it could be helpful to record yourself so then you can study yourself and make notes of what to improve, at least that’s what I do. Then when I’m talking with someone, it becomes quite natural, sometimes imperfections makes it perfect. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Juan

[Applegarden8]

Try to say it in less words.

[koops]

-Learn how to write properly (and how to EDIT).

-Record yourself talking and publish it (get feedback).

-Do it for months/years

 

 

[Lilia]

There might be psychological blocks that prevent clear expression. Such as:

- fear of stumbling

- fear of wasting people's time

- fear of being disliked

- fear of miscommunication

- fear of silence

- desire to embrace all perspectives at once

- trying to pre-empt undesirable feedback, etc.

People who have these blocks, often end up rambling. I would look into those and work specifically to eliminate them. 

 

There could be other things worth looking into. For example:

1. Getting clear on the message. Do you know 100% what it is that you want to communicate?

2. Make sure you speak your truth. (I remember Rupert Spira said once: 'Make sure your intentions are good, and then you'll have nothing to worry about.')

3. Put yourself into the listener's shoes. What words are they unlikely to understand? Don't use those words, or if you absolutely have to, define them. What level of spiral development are they likely to be at? Tailor your expression to their level's worldview, but check for feedback and make corrections if necessary. 

 

 

 

 

 

[LastThursday]

3 hours ago, Zest4Life said:

I find it hard to express myself the way I want to.

Practice, practice and more practice.

Learn new vocabulary. I prefer to do it in reverse and learn new concepts, and then the vocabulary that goes along with it.

If you want to improve your writing then learn good spelling, punctuation and syntax (word order).  Learn some basic theory behind grammar, such as how tenses work, what adjectives are and so on, what a participle is. Play with words in general.

3 hours ago, Zest4Life said:

But when I talk to someone, I lose track of what I want to say.

Do you zone out, or do you just lack clarity, or are you thinking about too many things at once? If you tend to zone out, practise meditation regularly. Practise being present and putting your whole attention on the other person when speaking. If you lack clarity then you need to fully understand what you are talking about - either shut up if you don't know, or go learn the stuff first. Saying that, thinking clearly is a very hard skill to acquire: you have to be aware of when you're being inconsistent or talking rubbish and then stop doing it.

BTW you expressed yourself quite clearly.

Edited October 31, 2023 by LastThursday

[Snader]

You need to know the shit you talk about. That makes a huge deal.

Also don't get fooled by what you see. I bet Leo does plenty of preparation and organizing work for his videos.

Get to know your shit first, then have the courage and resilience to practice regularly. 

And remember, when it comes to communicating and articulating yourself, there will always be good days and bad days.

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Snader

[hyruga]

Does @Leo Gura have points prepared written in a notepad or somewhere while recording? 

[Carl-Richard]

On 31.10.2023 at 9:37 PM, Lilia said:

3. Put yourself into the listener's shoes. What words are they unlikely to understand? Don't use those words, or if you absolutely have to, define them. What level of spiral development are they likely to be at? Tailor your expression to their level's worldview, but check for feedback and make corrections if necessary. 

This is generally good advice, but I'll give some personal experiences with the possible traps with this advice. In the last year or so, I've made quite a lot of effort to "dumb down" my thoughts, not just relative to who I'm speaking to, but for myself, as I used to sometimes spend a lot of time writing or thinking stuff that didn't fully make sense (which often correlated with me writing more and more in an attempt to cover the holes so to speak).

It definitely worked, as I don't say as much nonsense anymore, but inadvertently, it made me become less informative and even less precise at times, effectively from dumbing things down too much and mistaking lack of information for elegance. Essentially, much of what I thought was elegant, was just dumb, because I withheld information when that was not necessary.

Much of the elegance I was looking for mainly seems to boil down to this: embrace conceptual richness, details and clarifications, but be skeptical of how these things are presented. For example, it's generally better to choose a simple set of common words as opposed to a flowery metaphor or a highly niche synonym, but you shouldn't as readily drop a sentence or leave out an example illustrating your point or avoid mentioning a difficult but relevant concept. Another example: leave out "filler words" and excessive repetitions, but don't leave out actual information. So this is something I'm working to correct. This correction will also be a bit clumsy in the beginning, but it's better than whatever the hell the path I've been going down.

It also made writing and especially talking much more difficult, because you always have to double-check what your mind comes up with, and it definitely messes with the flow of the delivery. And I sometimes ended up using an inappropriate level of dumbed-down-ness for the situation, especially recently as I've started truly "higher" education, where the people around me should be able to follow me at my unfiltered capacity, at least judging by how some of my professors speak.

Basically, I would dumb down my speaking to a everyday conversation level while speaking about highly technical subjects in front of the class, just because that had become a habit, which is of course, dumb. That is one thing I generally want to start practicing: talking at "my level" (or my peers' level), which I know I'm able to do, but which I've denied myself the right to do (lol).

To summarize: brevity is not precision, simplicity is not elegance.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Francis777]

6 hours ago, Lilia said:

There might be psychological blocks that prevent clear expression. Such as:

- fear of stumbling

- fear of wasting people's time

- fear of being disliked

- fear of miscommunication

- fear of silence

- desire to embrace all perspectives at once

- trying to pre-empt undesirable feedback, etc.

People who have these blocks, often end up rambling. I would look into those and work specifically to eliminate them. 

 

There could be other things worth looking into. For example:

1. Getting clear on the message. Do you know 100% what it is that you want to communicate?

2. Make sure you speak your truth. (I remember Rupert Spira said once: 'Make sure your intentions are good, and then you'll have nothing to worry about.')

3. Put yourself into the listener's shoes. What words are they unlikely to understand? Don't use those words, or if you absolutely have to, define them. What level of spiral development are they likely to be at? Tailor your expression to their level's worldview, but check for feedback and make corrections if necessary. 

 

 

 

 

 

I second this, not everyone is articulate. But best to work through of these blockages first. They may inhibit you from being intuitive when you speak.

If you cant relax properly at a deep level when expressing yourself your never going to be as fluid and creative as you'd like to.

Edited November 1, 2023 by Francis777

[MuadDib]

5 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

This is generally good advice, but I'll give some personal experiences with the possible traps with this advice. In the last year or so, I've made quite a lot of effort to "dumb down" my thoughts, not just relative to who I'm speaking to, but for myself, as I used to sometimes spend a lot of time writing or thinking stuff that didn't fully make sense (which often correlated with me writing more and more in an attempt to cover the holes so to speak).

It definitely worked, as I don't say as much nonsense anymore, but inadvertently, it made me become less informative and even less precise at times, effectively from dumbing things down too much and mistaking lack of information with elegance. Essentially, much of what I thought was elegant, was just dumb, because I withheld information when that was not necessary.

Much of the elegance I was looking for mainly seems to boil down to this: embrace concepts and clarifications, be skeptical of words. For example, it's generally better to choose a simple set of common words as opposed to a flowery metaphor or highly niche synonyms, but you shouldn't as readily drop a sentence or leave out an example illustrating your point or avoid to mention a difficult but relevant concept. Leave out "filler words" and excessive repetitions, but don't leave out actual information. So this is something I'm working to correct. This correction will also be a bit clumsy in the beginning, but it's better than whatever the hell the path I've been going down.

It also made writing and especially talking much more difficult, because you always have to double-check what your mind comes up with, and it definitely messes with the flow of the delivery. And I sometimes ended up using an inappropriate level of dumbed-down-ness for the situation, especially recently as I've started truly "higher" education, where the people around me should be able to follow me at my unfiltered capacity, at least judging by how some of my professors speak.

Basically, I would dumb down my speaking to a everyday conversation level while speaking about highly technical subjects in front of the class, just because that had become a habit, which is of course, dumb. That is one thing I generally want to start practicing: talking at "my level" (or my peers' level), which I know I'm able to do, but which I've clumsily denied myself the right to do (lol).

To summarize: brevity is not precision, simplicity is not elegance.

Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler.

[Zest4Life]

You all have interesting points of view on this, and to be honest, I was expecting some shallow replies. I thought about it and concluded that I am a "kinesthetic type of person," which means that I perceive reality through feelings (that's why all great athletes are kinesthetic). I also don't have any blockages or a lack of vocabulary. What I do struggle with is that it is hard for me to describe how I feel or what my thoughts are on something (even though I am aware of how I feel and what I want to say). When you ask a mother why she loves her son, there are some "limitations" to articulating it in words. But then, you watch Leo's video on "what is wisdom or integrity", and he goes so deep into this topic, and explains something very complex in such a simple way that a 7-year-old kid would understand. 

PS: when I get high or drunk, my speaking skills are at their finest (10/10). I guess that I just need to feel good all the time to unlock this hidden ability (like Hunter S Thompson).

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Zest4Life

[UnbornTao]

20 hours ago, Lilia said:

There might be psychological blocks that prevent clear expression. Such as:

- fear of stumbling

- fear of wasting people's time

- fear of being disliked

- fear of miscommunication

- fear of silence

- desire to embrace all perspectives at once

- trying to pre-empt undesirable feedback, etc.

People who have these blocks, often end up rambling. I would look into those and work specifically to eliminate them. 

 

There could be other things worth looking into. For example:

1. Getting clear on the message. Do you know 100% what it is that you want to communicate?

2. Make sure you speak your truth. (I remember Rupert Spira said once: 'Make sure your intentions are good, and then you'll have nothing to worry about.')

3. Put yourself into the listener's shoes. What words are they unlikely to understand? Don't use those words, or if you absolutely have to, define them. What level of spiral development are they likely to be at? Tailor your expression to their level's worldview, but check for feedback and make corrections if necessary. 

This is solid. It might relate to showing up authentically, too.

I would replace point 2 with be honest. Intent to get across your experience as it is without concern for good or bad.

[UnbornTao]

On 01/11/2023 at 0:02 AM, Carl-Richard said:

This is generally good advice, but I'll give some personal experiences with the possible traps with this advice. In the last year or so, I've made quite a lot of effort to "dumb down" my thoughts, not just relative to who I'm speaking to, but for myself, as I used to sometimes spend a lot of time writing or thinking stuff that didn't fully make sense (which often correlated with me writing more and more in an attempt to cover the holes so to speak).

It definitely worked, as I don't say as much nonsense anymore, but inadvertently, it made me become less informative and even less precise at times, effectively from dumbing things down too much and mistaking lack of information with elegance. Essentially, much of what I thought was elegant, was just dumb, because I withheld information when that was not necessary.

Much of the elegance I was looking for mainly seems to boil down to this: embrace concepts and clarifications; be skeptical of words. For example, it's generally better to choose a simple set of common words as opposed to a flowery metaphor or highly niche synonyms, but you shouldn't as readily drop a sentence or leave out an example illustrating your point or avoid to mention a difficult but relevant concept. Leave out "filler words" and excessive repetitions, but don't leave out actual information. So this is something I'm working to correct. This correction will also be a bit clumsy in the beginning, but it's better than whatever the hell the path I've been going down.

It also made writing and especially talking much more difficult, because you always have to double-check what your mind comes up with, and it definitely messes with the flow of the delivery. And I sometimes ended up using an inappropriate level of dumbed-down-ness for the situation, especially recently as I've started truly "higher" education, where the people around me should be able to follow me at my unfiltered capacity, at least judging by how some of my professors speak.

Basically, I would dumb down my speaking to a everyday conversation level while speaking about highly technical subjects in front of the class, just because that had become a habit, which is of course, dumb. That is one thing I generally want to start practicing: talking at "my level" (or my peers' level), which I know I'm able to do, but which I've clumsily denied myself the right to do (lol).

To summarize: brevity is not precision, simplicity is not elegance.

Yes.

On this note, I like to consider poetry: its aim is communicating an experience in a condensed form. Consider how very few words can sometimes elegantly express something not necessarily easy to get across. 

Edited November 2, 2023 by UnbornTao

[LastThursday]

2 hours ago, Zest4Life said:

PS: when I get high or drunk, my speaking skills are at their finest (10/10).

That is telling. It suggests you do have a blockage. Maybe some form of inhibition when sober - whatever that may be. It also shows you that you already have what you want, and some form of therapy or self-development work will improve that.

Edited November 1, 2023 by LastThursday

[Bobby_2021]

Watch the videos from this channel. You will appreciate it a lot.

https://youtube.com/@ttsar 

[Carl-Richard]

19 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

+1

On this note, I like to consider poetry: its aim is communicating an experience in a condense form. Consider how very few words can sometimes elegantly express something not necessarily easy to get across. 

Poetry uses implicit and intuitive structures, which can be an elegant way of communicating, but it can also be prone to misinterpretation (due to the lack of explicit precision). Imo, an elegant use of poetry generally requires a refined sense of context awareness, e.g. knowing the person you're talking to and their past experiences, how their mind works, what they're feeling and thinking in the moment, etc.

Truly intuitive people (e.g. "real" spiritual gurus) can touch your soul with so little words, because they know so much about you by just looking at you or observing your behavior. In fact, when your context awareness (and just general awareness) becomes extremely refined, I believe you can see the karmic footprint of somebody just by glancing at their eyes. That is where you get stories like Ram Dass meeting his guru and discovering that he essentially knew everything about him (e.g. that his mother had just passed away), or Sadhguru (jokingly) recalling his experience in school (paraphrasing: "I was paying so much attention to the teachers that I could see their past, present and future").

And you can certainly see moderate versions of this in your own life: you know very well when somebody is sad just by looking at them, and if you by some second clue (or multiple) can derive a possible explanation, and if it happens to be true, then you have effectively read their karmic footprint. In that sense, "psychic abilities" are just extreme versions of normal psychological phenomena (e.g. affective empathy, seeing patterns, logical inferences, etc.).

One example from my personal life (which wasn't confirmed, but it still illustrates my point): at one point during my degree, I noticed that one of the lecturers suddenly called in sick a large number of times. Already then, I thought something must have happened. And then the few times I saw her after that, I couldn't help but feel that she was very sad, in strict contrast to how she used to be. The conclusion that popped up in my head was that someone near her had passed away. Again, I don't know that this was the case (I also had other theories, like a breakup, or just general stress from teaching while pursuing a PhD), but you can see how an extremely refined ability to pick up on such signs and draw true conclusions could lead you to be labelled a psychic.

Of course, there are alternative explanations of psychic abilities that rely less on explicit signs like how somebody looks or their emotional state (e.g. that it's possible to merely download information about someone you've never even seen or met by pure intention). But in either case, the way you arrive at a conclusion is equally interesting in my opinion.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[gettoefl]

whatever you say or write

provided you have a structured half smart brain

the last thing is the most important thing

the first thing is the least important thing

save the gold for the end and reel them in with the funny anecdotes at the start

in the main, you need to watch and study backwards

last chapter, last few minutes, always first

people love their own voice and pompous words and the resultant paycheck

to your everlasting detriment

wise up

[Razard86]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:57 PM, Zest4Life said:

Hi everyone,

I’ve been watching Leo’s videos for 6-7 years and I’m amazed by how well he speaks.

His videos are 2 hours long (without editing) and he doesn’t seem to struggle with his thoughts. 

I find it hard to express myself the way I want to. When I write emails, I use tools like Grammarly, ChatGPT, or QuillBot to help me reword my sentences.

But when I talk to someone, I lose track of what I want to say.

How do you learn to speak so clearly?

PS: I'm reading a lots of books, but it didn't help me much.

Leo's mind works similar to Jordan Peterson in that his mind is like a courtroom. When he thinks about something he thinks deeply about it from as many angles as he can. His mind basically debates itself from multiple angles which allows him to see the thing from many varied viewpoints which allows him to talk about it from many perspectives.

You can do it too if you contemplate your whole life on something, also Leo did some speech training too. And he made a bunch of videos and got better each time at explaining his view points. So the short answer is practice, practice, and more practice.

[zurew]

Without clear and well structured thoughts, you will have a hard time articulating them clearly. Ideally you don't want to organize your thoughts on the go.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned here is the learning of propositional logic. You can learn it in a few days and it will be very helpful because it will teach you a formal and rigorous way to structure your thoughts. Im not suggesting to try to use it here or to from now on only communicate using that kind of formality, but I would suggest to play with it for a while, because it will teach your brain to cut the nonsense and bullshit and to try focus on the essence of things. It will also help you to build and to read the inferences and  the connections between premises better - basically it will help you to organize your thoughts about a topic, before you want to speak on it.

My other advice would be to try to make analogies in a context that your listener is well-versed in.

Edited November 2, 2023 by zurew