
Ask HN: How do you articulate yourselves so well? - Froyoh
How do you articulate yourselves so well?
======
qubex
Read books, lots and lots of non-fiction books. Dial down your consumption of
mass media (television and internet blogs) and social media especially. Expand
your understanding of written exposition, make yourself receptive to others’
arguments (which means: feel free to change opinion if somebody else’s logic
convinced you, and don’t always consider convincing others to be the point of
the exercise), expand your vocabulary, and perfect your syntax.

~~~
smt88
Why only nonfiction? Some nonfiction is among the worst writing I've read, and
some fiction is among the best. Metaphors and other literary devices work well
in any writing, and some can be learned best from fiction.

I also strongly disagree with expanding your vocabulary, unless you're a non-
native speaker. "Big words" have been shown in studies to make your writing
harder to understand and seem more pretentious. Good writers can express
themselves in a way that an average person can follow.

Same goes for perfect syntax: language is fluid and evolves, and breaking the
stricter rules can be very effective.

~~~
qubex
A broad vocabulary with plenty quasi-synonyms allows one to understand and
express subtler concepts. Likewise mastering syntax, particularly less-
conventional forms, can allow one to shuffle around words to place emphasis
where one might not usually expect it to be, if the need arises.

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auslegung
Ben Franklin thought, wrote, and practiced a lot on this subject, you might
want to see what he had to say about it.

My two cents: know what you want to communicate, don't deviate from it.
Organize your writing or speaking like this: 1) tell them what you're going to
tell them, 2) tell them, 3) tell them what you told them. In other words, have
an intro, subject, and conclusion, even if you're only writing or speaking 5
sentences. Speak slower, allow pauses, that way you can think through things.

~~~
qubex
I remember the basic essay plan our English teacher had cajoled us to adopt in
High School (which I graduated from almost nineteen years ago, frighteningly
enough, at the tail-end of the typographical era of text).

1\. Introduction: Tell us what you're going to say.

2\. Body: List your facts, create a sub-list of those facts that you are going
to argue from, argue from them, undermine yourself by introducing the facts
you weren't going to argue from and explore how adopting those changes your
conclusion, explain why you chose to exclude those other facts to begin with
and thus invalidate the counter-argument (while have shown yourself to be
receptive to it).

3\. Conclusion: Tell us what you said, and tell us how one could go about
settling controversies that arise between yourself and somebody else who
reached a different conclusion.

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rayalez
I listen to audiobooks all the time(while jogging in the morning, while doing
chores, while eating, during the commute, every free minute I'd waste
otherwise), write my thoughts down in a journal, write articles for a blog.

I'm still not excellent, English is my second language and I often do make
mistakes, but I've made huge progress simply by reading and writing a lot.

Also, some people will disagree, but I think that tweeting is a very fun and
productive way to practice concisely articulating your thoughts.

You can also combine these ideas: listen to audiobooks, take notes, and share
the most insightful things you've learned on twitter or blog.

------
Casseres
I attribute my writing abilities to having read a ton of books as a kid.

I read most of those books in middle school, but prior to that in elementary
school, I was already reading at a 12th grade level according to some reading
test we took in school.

As to why my reading comprehension was advanced for my age? No idea.

I don't nearly do as well with public speaking, but I've tried Toastmasters
for a while, and think that helps. At the minimum, you'll meet some great
people, have some fun, and listen to (and share I hope!) some great stories.

~~~
qubex
Likewise, through Middle School., High School. University, and my first three-
and-a-half year work experience in China, I read incessantly. I probably
averaged two or three books per month (typically nonfiction, initially popular
science but increasingly technical, with several textbooks of various subjects
thrown in for good measure) for... about fourteen years. That leads me to
estimate about 420 books in that period, which roughly matches with the size
of my “read” bookcase.

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malux85
Don’t feel compelled to answer immediately. I have got a task for you:

Next time someone asks you a question, think “When is that true? When is that
false? What are the ddpendencies of true? What are the dependencies of false?
Is true and false the only option? Under what conditions?”

Once you have answered all these questions in your head, then you may answer

You’ll get faster and faster at it

~~~
qubex
Basically, get a feel for the _ontology_ of knowledge and knowledge systems.

------
sharkhacks
I treat this similar to the way I treat giving a speech or presentation. I
practice and practice. I build 'material' that I can refer to again and again.
This is how standup comedians and people who give talks for a living do it!

For example if I know I need to explain Blockchain to someone I would sit down
before-hand and write a simple explanation, rehearse it until I memorize it,
then I would explain it to the person, the first time I explain it I might be
slow and rusty, but if I have to explain it to another person I will be a bit
better, etc. etc. so by the time someone else asks me to explain it, I sound
like a genius :)

This can apply to Technical, Scientific, Personal, and any kind of
content/concepts really. You can use this practice to improve your social
skills too and tell interesting stories!

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yesenadam
Meta-answer: Asking the question that way, you're asking to hear from those
that _think_ they 'articulate themselves so well', which may not be those that
actually do. Most people, I've noticed, who think they do anything
particularly well, don't.[0] I'm far too modest to have a stab at answering.
:-)

Also, not clear what you mean exactly. In writing? speaking? Two entirely
different things. Some can do both, neither, or one of those well. Well, more
than two; there are a wide range of forms of both.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)

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tenkabuto
We might have a difficult time telling you _how_ we do it, but I suspect that
the _why_ of that we do it is that we've been in situations in which thorough
and clear explanations significantly helped us and/or others, and we hope to
have a bit of that for ourselves at the ready at all times.

With that said, practice writing down thorough explanations of things, then
play with the way that you've structured or presented the statements. Think
about how a reader/hearer might respond to what you've said. Then practice
what you've learned by communicating with friends/contacts.

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smt88
The writing that has most helped me improve my writing has been top-tier
journalism (NY Times, Atlantic, Quartz among my favorites), science fiction,
Marcel Proust, Jared Diamond, Will Durant, and Robert Penn Warren. YMMV

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nunez
I’ve gotten better at articulating myself after listening to podcasts, namely
those in an interview or journalistic format.

Also, speak slower.

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matt_the_bass
I know it sounds contrary and cliché but listening and digesting others
comments is valuable.

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pvaldes
Having an inner skeleton helps a lot.

