For the longest time, I’ve struggled with explaining my ideas.
It’s a combination of thinking in a language, then realising I don’t know the right vocabulary in English to translate, then freaking out because I’m lost trying to keep track of the idea and the translation, then realising that I no longer have any idea about what my original line of thought was, then totally losing it when I start thinking that the person I’m trying to communicate is now judging my lack of words for stupidity.
I’ve come up with my own hacks to get around this problem: accepting that starting to think in English is advantageous in the lifecycle of the idea, learning vocabulary (Wordsmith.org is wonderful, as is Norman Lewis’ book Word Power), reading ideas from different domains and using them as analogies when necessary, practising getting over the stuttered speech at Toastmasters, and several others.
Today I had the opportunity to share a couple of them with at least two colleagues, both of who were feeling stuck. It felt good to share those ideas with them. I also learnt that I talk way more than I need to. Succinct articulation of ideas is a worthy goal.
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Another glorious evening after several days of wet weather, with no opportunity to go for walks.