Here is a 3-step process to clarify your thinking, whenever you feel you have a lot to say about something but it all feels jumbled up in your head.
Imagine that you have to make a presentation before someone (a client, colleague, etc.).
- Now, dump all the thoughts in your head on a piece of paper. Identify the key points in the things you have jotted down.
- Put a structure around the argument you will make in your presentation:
– Identify the relationships between the key points.
– Club the points into logical groups, with each group containing similar items (e.g., ‘Reasons to do X’).
– Organize the groups such that they all build up to and logically support an overall conclusion. - Now practice presenting it before a hypothetical audience and see if there are any gaps in logic. If so, fill those gaps with factual statements, assumptions, or some bullshit (ok, I was kidding about the bullshit, though it does happen quite often).
Though this exercise seems simple, it isn’t. It will force you to think and translate the messy thoughts in your head into a neat logical argument.
And nothing pleases the mind more than an easy-to-follow argument!
– Rajan