Having clear and strong communication skills will make you a more effective person and raise your chances in life. Many people are held back in various areas: career, family life, romantic life, friendships, even just regular daily interactions, because they do not know how to communicate. This is something we should be taught extensively in school and by our parents.

One of the reasons why so many people cannot communicate properly is because they don’t know how to articulate their thoughts or how to train their minds. They have a chaotic mind, leading to poor communication, which causes frustration, conflict, and a lowered self-esteem. Which then leads to avoiding further social situations, which in turn leads to losing out on opportunities in life, and having a lowered quality of life overall.

This skill used to be, and still is, taught among people who belonged to the high classes and nobility. I want each member here to become the best version of yourself, competent and fulfilled. This will require you spending time on the creative practices I outline below, but you will gain massive benefits that will help you forever. You will begin to enjoy social settings more, and your confidence will noticeably increase.

First, write your thoughts. Getting in the habit of daily journaling will help immensely, or at least journaling a few times a week. Form the habit of writing down your thoughts, getting your thoughts from chaotic vagueness in your mind, into clearly constructed words and sentences on paper or in word doc where you can review them. Feel free to add your own personality, sense of humor or preferred seriousness, or experiment with different styles to help develop your own.

For the following creative practices, create a new word doc or get a new journal to keep these exercises all together for easy reviewing. You will need to review these periodically.

Creative practice #1: Recall a social scenario you experienced in reality where your reply or your side of the conversation left you feeling embarrassed, frustrated, or even stupid. Many times, we can’t think of what to say at the moment of a confrontation or when we are unprepared, so our mind grabs at anything, which can be disastrous.

Write what the other person said, this can be a brief recap or summary, and write a brief summary of what you said. It can be as short as a few words or a sentence. There is no need to spend a lot of time getting this part all down, just enough to remember what it was about.

Begin a new section underneath, of what you wish you had said. Often, we think of what we should have said long after the conversation ended. A better way to word something, or adding something that would have helped get your point across, or maybe a bit of humor to lighten the conversation. Or maybe your ill-timed joke was the problem and seriousness was needed instead.

Now, go over what you wrote. Elaborate more, adjust the wording. Use a thesaurus or use any other tools to get an idea for how to improve it, while still staying true to your own personality and style of speech. Keep it real to your identity so you can remember it, but you can learn new words to improve your regular way of speaking. Check your sentence structure to ensure it all makes sense, and has a good flow from the beginning to the end. Separate it into paragraphs if needed.

Spend time thinking of how you can effectively write and speak, in order to stay in control of yourself. Add as many sentences to get your idea or reply across clearly. Leave nothing murky or vague, unless you want to be vague which is preferred in some situations.

You will likely start to feel excited by now. That’s because your confidence is increasing, because you know how to reply to that specific scenario now. Your thoughts are forming better, which will lead to more inspiration of more to write and say.

You can keep going back to this over some days or a week, perfecting it in your own style.

When you are finished writing this, practice speaking it in front of a mirror. Note your mannerisms and facial expressions, are you happy with them or would you like to practice more to look natural and comfortable, or look more commanding, for example. Posture is important too. When speaking, leave pauses when necessary, don’t rush it all out.

Next, practice speaking in front of imaginary people, or your pet, or a friend who is willing to help you. Practice until it sounds natural, not forced or fake. Actually speak, not just think it in your mind.

Do this for every failed conversation you can remember. This might take weeks or months, but you are gaining a valuable skill and leveling up as a human. You can continue adding to this for any future conversations you have; although as you practice this, you will learn how to communicate better overall and will make less mistakes.

Occasionally review these to train your mind as to how you can now communicate better. Don’t let yourself slip back into poor communication habits.

Creative practice #2: Imagine you are in a social situation, one you have never been in but might be some day. Perhaps you will be meeting with some relatives you have not seen in a while; or you will be at an event that requires meeting new people; or you might meet someone interesting in a shop. Have fun with your imagination here.

Write down how you think the conversation might go. Perhaps the other person will ask you something unexpected; spend some time thinking of random conversations or questions, and write down how you would like to reply. You can add a brief section of the next thing they might say, and then continue with writing your part, to make it more like how a real conversation can flow.

Now go over your reply. Can or should it be more concise? Perhaps write a few replies, one being more concise and one being more lengthy; add a reply with humor and one without. Then if this situation ever comes up in reality, you will judge the tone of the setting and determine which reply would be more fitting. Some people hate it when others talk too much, some people prefer a long and deep conversation.

You can write as many of these as you want. Perhaps a few a week, or once a month. Anything to expand your mind and prepare you for any potential social scenario you might find yourself in. Write some unpleasant conversations too, such as with someone you detest but you want to manage the conversation well and make a decent impression, for example.

Practice saying these, like in the above section (in front of a mirror, then perhaps with a friend). Review these every so often to keep them strong in your memory.

Creative practice #3: If you ever think of something to say, perhaps something that may come up in conversation, write it down. Then when talking with others, you can fluidly tell your story or state your comment without fumbling around or forgetting a key point.

Some examples:

-something interesting you once observed and have a unique perspective on
-something humorous you once witnessed and would like to turn it into a conversational story
-how to politely excuse yourself from a conversation with someone
-how to initiate conversation with someone you find attractive
-a witty reply to a common remark
-a compliment on someone’s outfit
-a congratulatory remark to someone’s accomplishment
-condolences for someone’s bereavement

You can look online or ask people you know and respect for ideas on what to say and how to reply to these.

As with the previous 2 sections, practice saying these, so your mind knows and remembers how to speak them. You will unite your mind with your speech.

Daily Working or Affirmation: You can do the Mercury square, or the square of a planet that rules your 3rd house, or a working with Ansuz rune. You can do a daily affirmation without a working, either after yoga or pranayama when your energy is raised, or before bed each night to let it steep into your subconscious. Yellow energy helps with communication.

The affirmation can be something like: “I am always communicating clearly. My thoughts and words are clear and help me communicate with other people. I now and always have beneficial and healthy social interactions with other people.” Change this as you feel is best.

Helpful Crystals: Amazonite helps develop pleasant communication ability, overcoming brashness and coarseness in your speech, and prevents chaotic communication. Angelite, Blue Calcite, Chalcedony. Howlite is helpful for those who are too rushed and angry in speech. Sodalite helps prevent you from saying things you don’t mean. Turquoise is one of the best for communication. See what is available to you, there may be more stones. Generally, blue stones help with communication. You only need one, not all of these I listed.

Conclusion: Doing the above practices will prepare you for many if not all social situations that arise in life. The Introspective Meditation by our High Priest can also help with this. The Great man and woman has ease and skill in conversation and does not fumble in speech.