How to articulate yourself intelligently

The inner album of greatest hits, and 3 frameworks to practice with

This newsletter did way better than I expected.

I turned it into a video for those interested (or continue reading below):

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When I was young, I was always drawn to people who sounded intelligent.

People like Alan Watts, Jordan Peterson, Daniel Schmachtenberger, or other individuals who could explain deep ideas in an exciting yet palatable way. Most of the time, I didn’t understand what they were saying (because either I was too young or they overcomplicated everything they said), but since it sounded smart and articulate, I listened anyway and gave them my respect.

The thing is, I never thought I could do the same.

I thought these people were inherently more intelligent than I was.

I didn’t think my brain had the capacity to do that. I was a smart kid in school, but being good at taking tests is a much different skill than stringing together coherent thoughts and articulating them to someone else.

I felt like I had to memorize entire books worth of information so that I could recite it on the spot, because I was trained to learn that way.

But now, over a decade later, and without really trying to become articulate... people ask me how I write and speak so well.

Over the past 6 years, millions of people have chosen to hit the follow or subscribe button on my social media accounts, newsletter, and YouTube channel. I’m not an entertainer. I’m not that funny either. I’m actually quite boring (which I like). I wouldn’t even say that my content is eloquent or revolutionary. I can, however, attribute most of that success to being able to articulate valuable ideas in a way that people are drawn to. And... It’s not that difficult to do.

So, maybe you’re a new creator who wants to stand out. Maybe you’re going on a podcast and don’t want to stumble over your words (because you don’t have a script). Maybe you want to command presence in a company meeting or sales call. Or, maybe you just want to be a more interesting person.

I’ve come up with 3 methods to articulate yourself intelligently, and I’ve ordered them from beginner to advanced. These are what I use when it’s time to write or speak. I’ve also included a few resources to help with this at the very end.

But there’s something more important that must come before.

First, we need to build our inner album of greatest hits.

The Inner Album Of Greatest Hits

If you want to articulate yourself intelligently, you need a pool of 8-10 of your biggest ideas that can be connected to almost any topic. Then, when it’s time to write or speak in any situation, you have a starting point that you’ve already thought through hundreds of times before.

I’ve been getting invited onto more big podcasts.

But these are much, much different than the ones I was invited on as a beginner creator.

There is a lot on the line. These big podcasters pour tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) into the quality of their production. It’s nerve-racking. And since hundreds of thousands of people may listen to the podcast, I feel like I am responsible for providing as much value as I possibly can.

I’m not the best podcast guest yet.

When I listen back to them, I’m always kicking myself about how I could have said something better.

And that leads to the problem.

I’ve written 2 books.

Thousands of social posts.

Hundreds of newsletters and YouTube videos.

It’s obvious to me which ideas are the most valuable. It’s obvious which ideas have the most views or have led to the most DMs about how this “changed their life.” It’s obvious that I really only have 8-10 big ideas that represent my brand and the value I can provide. I’ve spent countless hours refining those ideas.

Those are the ideas people want to hear.

Those are the ideas that introduce new listeners to who I am.

But that’s my biggest mental hurdle... I don’t want to sound like I’m repeating myself.

So when I get on a podcast, or am asked to speak in front of a crowd, I avoid saying the things that I’ve already said well. My mind goes blank and I have to force something out to avoid an awkwardly long pause. I want to somehow come up with this mindblowing idea on the spot, when I know that’s not how ideas work. Ideas require time to dissect and explore.

Jordan Peterson, regardless of your opinion, is known for his articulation. It’s captivating. Why? Look at his body of work and it’s obvious. If you do not have a body of work around the topics you wish to articulate yourself, you may want to increase your expectations as to the work you have ahead of you.

Now, why do you listen to your favorite musician?

Because they have a specific sound or style that you enjoy. Most of their music sounds the same with slight variations here and there. You can listen to a few seconds of their song and know exactly which artist plays it.

If an EDM artist immediately decided to switch to country music, their first track would be horrible, as most first iterations are, and most of their audience would not like it.

The same applies to being a creator, writer, speaker, or just a person who wants to be able to articulate themselves.

You need to write or speak, thousands of times, until your best ideas are obvious. By nature, you must repeat yourself, because the most important ideas deserve to be repeated, and how else are you going to refine them?

You can think of these “big ideas” as tweets.

In my writing, I have a few topics that I talk about frequently: the one-person business model, how to get what you want in life, how to master your mind, lifestyle design, etc.

For each of those content pillars, I have a few short-form tweets I’ve written that hit hard.

When I think about it, the best speakers on a podcast are those who don’t answer the question the host asks directly.

They don’t say, “Umm well, good question, I’ve talked about that topic before and here’s the answer.”

Instead, they speak their best idea on that topic with confidence, then expand on it with supporting points. Not only does this keep the listener engaged, leading to the podcast doing better and more people wanting you to come on their podcasts (compounding into more success for you), but it’s also a clippable moment. If your idea has already gone viral, it will probably do so again when they post the clip of you speaking.

Alex Hormozi is great at this.

If a podcast host were to ask him, “What’s the greatest skill you can learn in today’s world?”

Hormozi could just say “sales” or “offer creation,” but he understands that there are levels to this, so he would probably respond with his second most viral tweet:

“The single greatest skill you can develop is the ability to stay in a great mood in the absence of things to be in a great mood about.”

Not only is that something the audience wouldn’t expect, meaning it’s novel, but it sets both Hormozi and the host up for an interesting conversation that people want to listen to.

And, it already has 105 thousand likes, so when it’s clipped, that simple decision from Hormozi to articulate that specific idea will lead to exponentially more results than if he were to try to say something new.

Makes sense, but how do we actually practice this, from beginner to advanced?

3 Methods To Articulate Yourself Intelligently

If you don’t know what to learn, start writing. Not because writing is some shortcut your can’t stop looking for, but because writing teaches you how to think, how to learn, and how to inspire people to care about what you do.

I call myself a writer, but I don’t actually consider myself one.

I don’t care about grammar. I don’t care about how clever I sound (most of the time). I don’t care if my sentences run on and don’t read the best. Yet millions of people have made the choice to hit the follow or subscribe button across my social channels.

Throughout my journey as a “writer,” I’ve realized that writing is so much more than stringing sentences together as a choice of vocation.

If you want to become articulate, you should probably start writing. That is, you should start writing intentionally, because you already write every single day.

You text your family and friends. You email your prospects, clients, and coworkers. And depending on your work, you may write project outlines, feedback, proposals, and more.

If you really think about it, the foundation of media (which is how you or your employer gets your work in front of people and persuades them to care about your work, so you can survive and get paid) is writing. Now, media has evolved. If you want to succeed in any venture, you must go where the attention is. Right now, the attention is on social media, YouTube, podcasts, and advertisements like Facebook ads. All of which require you to articulate persuasively in the form of video scripts, posts, sales copywriting, post captions, and anywhere else that someone is reading a written post or spoken script, which is nearly everything.

That’s why I recommend a 1-2 hour writing habit every morning. That’s why I created 2 hour writer.

That’s how you practice articulating your ideas. As a bonus, by posting your ideas in public, you get direct feedback in the form of engagement as to which are the most impactful. Building an audience also doesn’t hurt. Free distribution for your work, product, or service is great.

With that said, how do you actually start practicing articulation in the form of writing?

Here are 3 frameworks.

These alone will help you blow past everyone else who starts without a plan.

Beginner – The Micro Story

The mind is a story engine.

Humans can’t help but pay attention to a story, especially if it’s short and impactful. Once you learn how to do it well, you can effectively short-circuit someone’s brain into being interested in the topic you are talking about.

The foundation of a story is transformation. This does not have to be a transformation about a specific person. A transformation can be as simple as introducing a problem and giving a solution.

If we want to make that a bit more impactful, here’s how you structure what you want to say:

• Problem – state a relatable problem that you’ve observed or experienced before.

• Amplify – illustrate how that problem leads to a negative outcome if it is not solved.

• Solution – state the solution to the problem. In a short post, this can be one sentence or a short list. In a long newsletter or script, this can be all of the key points with their explanations. The problem and amplification would account for the hook.

If you’ve studied copywriting at all, you’ve seen this before. After 6 years of doing this, it’s still my go-to when I need a way to articulate a thought fast. I have an idea and immediately start thinking of a problem related to it.

Now, of course, this is assuming you already have an idea to write about.

If you don’t, you need to hunt for them. You need to read old books, go down rabbit holes on a topic, listen to a new podcast, or just sit with your thoughts and follow them until you reach a compelling insight.

When you “hunt” for an idea, you aren’t just letting the information go in one ear and out the other. You are listening intently for an idea that you wish you wrote.

Then you jot it down so you don’t lose it.

Then you articulate it in your own words using these frameworks so that it takes a new shape.

Intermediate – The Pyramid Principle

The Pyramid Principle is a communication framework that structures ideas in a hierarchical, logical way to make information more palatable and persuasive.

It’s pretty simple.

• Start with the main idea (the key conclusion or recommendation)

• Support it with key arguments (usually 3-5 key points)

• Provide detailed evidence (data, examples, analysis)

Unlike most content today that waits to give you the answer until the end of the video, this takes an answer-first approach.

This works perfectly with our example from before about Hormozi on a podcast.

If his answer to “What is the greatest skill to learn?” was:

“The single greatest skill you can develop is the ability to stay in a great mood in the absence of things to be in a great mood about.”

That can serve as the answer at the top of the pyramid.

Then, he could support it with key arguments as to why that is the greatest skill to learn. All you have to do is ask why 3-5 times and provide solid reasoning.

After that, he can give examples from his own life, data about being in a great mood, or anecdotes from clients.

So, this is a great way to either expand on key points in a newsletter, thread, or YouTube video. And of course, it can be used as a way to respond to questions on a podcast.

Start with a great idea, make an argument about it, then support it with data.

Now, if you struggle to continue writing or speaking, this next framework will help with that.

Advanced – Cross Domain Synthesis

This one is my favorite because I have multiple interests.

It’s hard for me to stick to one topic or niche. I love studying psychology, philosophy, business, design, tech, health, and really anything that gives me the tools to live a better life.

This is how I tend to structure most of my newsletters, outside of the ones where I am focused on a singular topic (like this one).

Here it is:

• Problem and amplify – your introduction should state a relatable problem and illustrate what happens if that problem is not solved.

• Cross-domain synthesis – note patterns or concepts from your other interests that help support your argument. If I’m talking about deep work, I can use the concept of entropy from physics to illustrate how distraction works. This teaches my audience something new, and I can sleep well knowing that all other deep work content out there does not do this.

• Unique process or solution – give a list of ideas or steps that best solve the problem you introduced at the beginning, solidifying the transformation. These should come from your own contemplation rather than someone else’s prescription.

In practice, you would have the title of your piece, the introduction with the problem, a section that teaches a concept from another discipline or interest, then a unique way to solve the problem in the form of multiple sections describing each key point.

The problem here is that this leads to something very long like a newsletter, book chapter, YouTube video, or even a solo podcast.

If you’re just starting out, you’ll be staring at a blank screen because you don’t know how to fill in each section.

Luckily, writing is like legos with ideas, and ideas come in predictable forms. If you understand those forms, you can guide your mind to brainstorming what to write next. Here are a few easy ones:

• Pain point – if I don’t know how to start a section, I start with a relevant pain point, and ideas start to flow from there.

• Example – once I’ve started a section, you can throw an example in anywhere. This grounds what you are saying.

• Personal story – think to a time in your life that relates to what you are writing about. This can go anywhere.

• Statistic – research a truthful statistic that adds more authority to your point.

• Metaphor – explain a complex idea as if you are talking to a child. Alan Watts is incredible at this.

• Quote – include a quote that justifies what you are saying. Quotes are easy because they are almost always great ideas.

• Reframe – give people a different perspective on the point you just discussed.

• What, how, or why – when all else fails, simply ask what, how, or why? Thinking is questioning.

These are the “legos” that compose most of my outlines. I tend to cycle through all of them in my head. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature, and your thinking process starts to rewire.

I hope that was helpful enough to get you started.

– Dan

Here are further resources for writing and articulating yourself: