Quora Answer: How Can a Person Express Themselves Better?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How can a person express themselves better?” 

There are a few considerations when it comes to expressing ourselves better.  This works differently when we are writing or when we are speaking.  We should also consider the audience and our presenter persona.  We do not speak or write only for ourselves.  Our audience needs to understand us.  In general, however, here are some points. 

Firstly, we need to consider who we want to address, and put our thoughts across in a manner they can understand and subscribe to.  This means choosing our words, and the manner we out things across in a manner that is congruent to their understanding. 

Secondly, we need to think about what we want to put across.  It must be a cogent, coherent argument for or against a position.  There has to be a point, or at most, three points.  There has to be an argument supporting this, and there has to be a call to action, where we express what is in it for the audience to support these positions. 

Finally, it is very important to only talk about what we understand.  This ties in to our credibility.  While we need to express ourselves, we only do so in spheres where we have the facts, the experience, and the general knowledge such that what we put forth is credible.