I recently read about a motivational and presentation technique called “shading.” It comes from presentation coach Jennifer Scott. She suggests that when you’re giving a presentation, you augment what you say out loud with something you say silently, to yourself. For example, she might introduce herself by saying, “Good morning, I’m Jennifer Scott,” and pause and say to herself, “and I’m a warm and friendly person.” Then, out loud: “I work for a company called Theater Techniques for Business,” followed by the silent, “and I love what I do.” She says most of us talk to ourselves anyway, so why not make that work for us.
It occurs to me we can use the same technique when writing. For example, when you sit down to write, what are you saying to yourself? If it’s hesitant or negative, maybe something else would be better. For example, after writing your first sentence, instead of saying, “This isn’t really a very good opening,” you might try, “This gets me started, and I can always change it later.”
