Hi Everyone, I’m Sharna, an artist and transformational coach. Here at the Alchemists Clubhouse, I share original art and poetry, tiny assignments to bring more connection into your life and work, and quarterly live workshops on Zoom.
In my coach training years ago, we studied language and language patterns very closely. Minuscule changes to a question can dramatically influence an answer. A single choice of verb or adjective can reveal a person’s entire world view or personal mythology. Repetitive narratives of people, things, or situations are often protecting deeper fears or injuries.
In addition to tracking another person’s language, we also learned to wield our own words with intention. It turns out that in the practice of supportive dialogue, there are some magic words.
This week, your assignment is to use these: “Tell me more.”
Tell me more is a fantastically useful and versatile phrase. You can use when you don’t know what to ask, but still want to demonstrate genuine care and interest. You can use it in meetings, with a loved one who is upset, or with a collaborator who’s hoping to pull a provocative creative idea out of the ether.
In every case, tell me more will ferry you into new territory.
You’ll go beyond the familiar and learn something new. Interestingly, this is usually true for both people, since speaking, like writing, is actually a form of thinking. When you get past the routine sequences of pre-assembled words, your mind has to reach for what it is struggling to express, and that’s when discoveries are made.
Tell me more.