What ten years, two very different jobs, and one piece of cognitive science taught me about why talk works — even when nobody’s trying to make it work.
Love the "move" you share here—and it's a healthy reminder to me that it's important to teach these skills in the classroom, especially for students to use in small groups and less-formal settings.
Adding it to my list for the upcoming school year of what to front load!
Thanks Rod for your always brilliant thinking! The reframe on speeches vs. conversation is a very interesting idea. The idea that speeches feel harder not because they're structurally more demanding, but because you're doing all the cognitive labor alone, with no one's language quietly doing half your drafting for you. That reframes a lot of what feels effortful about presenting to a room versus talking with someone in it.
And the three-word echo is one of those moves that's almost suspiciously simple. I've taught "say more about that" for years, but handing someone their own words back, unparaphrased, does something a paraphrase can't — it doesn't just check comprehension, it hands them the mic to keep building. Going to try this in both my work with adults and kids this week.
Love the "move" you share here—and it's a healthy reminder to me that it's important to teach these skills in the classroom, especially for students to use in small groups and less-formal settings.
Adding it to my list for the upcoming school year of what to front load!
Like this - I will try in September, when we are back. Thanks!
Thanks Rod for your always brilliant thinking! The reframe on speeches vs. conversation is a very interesting idea. The idea that speeches feel harder not because they're structurally more demanding, but because you're doing all the cognitive labor alone, with no one's language quietly doing half your drafting for you. That reframes a lot of what feels effortful about presenting to a room versus talking with someone in it.
And the three-word echo is one of those moves that's almost suspiciously simple. I've taught "say more about that" for years, but handing someone their own words back, unparaphrased, does something a paraphrase can't — it doesn't just check comprehension, it hands them the mic to keep building. Going to try this in both my work with adults and kids this week.