Page 42 - September 2020 Voices
P. 42
SKILLS 2.0 CORNER
The School of Self Talk
B. Lee Coyne, ATMS
Practical Tips While the month of September may bring
memories of school bells clanging, thr major
At this point you might be wondering why lessons of life occur well outside the classroom
some of the things in this article so far per se.
sound like they’re meant for an elementary Interaction with others is our ordinary
school child. If you are, it’s because they daiiy experience. We are immersed in society.
actually are. Ideally one should be taught Communications begin in our toddler stage. We
these things at a very young age but it’s hunger for milk and baby food.
never too late to intervene and prevent Then in baby steps we begin to learn real
a potentially violent situation involving words. In our pediatric minds our new world
a van, a Mustang, and a complicated starts to connect things with their labels. Nouns
Starbucks drink. soon give way to verbs.
Now that we know what empathy is, its Ways of action are accentuated.
benefits, and what tools we can use to build At some point in our cognitive journey we
it, here are some tips I picked up while perceive inner feelings and the words to express
wrestling with my own Mustang moments: them to our family. We.are still highly dependent.
• Eat your own dog food when it comes We may need a boost from others, even their
to teaching children approval.
• Set good examples Self talk often develops at this stage.
• Always steer towards positivity As specimens of humanity our brains think
• Listen! Listen! Listen! before we take action. Internal forces formulate
• Don’t try to eliminate all conflict. our thoughts and maybe we can debate within
Learn from it. ourselves. Those episodes from childhood can
• Don’t overuse these tools and keep it mold our reactions in adulthood.
fun. Let’s attempt a fast forward to our
contemporary scene here and now. Every
Toastmasters speech is aptly triggered by that
self talk process.
Wish you a fun and happy empathy journey. Choosing the topic is the initial phase.
Email me your thoughts and findings. If Organizing the talking points follows in swift
you’re desperate to join my club at this point, succession. Determining word choice enters the
I empathize with you. fray. Balance of tone—serious or humorous or
both—becomes another facet to work through.
Audiences vary greatly. Self talk is really
inner screening. The alternative for most of us
is scrambling. Which one best represents whom
we really are?
42 ONE COMMUNITY
