There’s a long-standing cultural connection between “talking to yourself” and having a screw loose.

The truth is that self-talk and more specifically “self-explanation” may actually be a mark of intelligence, and one of the most underutilized ways to access quality learning.

Self-explanation encourages you to reflect, reason, and integrate. People who are fast learners are often really good at this without knowing it—it is as though they have their own internalized “mini teacher” who is constantly walking them through the learning process.

Talk Yourself Through Worked Examples

When a team of cognitive psychologists and education experts reviewed over 700 research studies on 10 common learning techniques, they were able to identify those methods that produced genuine results… and those that really didn’t.

The winners: self-testing. Essentially discussing concept with yourself.

Mental training wheels are always verbal. When we carefully talk ourselves through a process, we are teaching our brain to make those pathways permanent so that in time they become automatic and we no longer need the explanation at all.

When you were little, you probably did this when learning to tie your shoelace:

“OK, first I have to take this piece, and make a loop… good… OK wait hold that a little more tightly, then I need to pick up the other piece and wrap it around… like that… still keep a hold of the previous piece… then next I have to…”

Today, you tie your shoelaces completely on autopilot, but it’s only because your original self-instruction was so deliberate.

It’s the same when we learn anything.

Whenever you’re working through examples or exercises, slow down. Walk yourself through them step by step.

$0.99 today: The Sticky Learning Framework: Adaptive Learning Models for Knowledge Absorption, Retention, and Application