Internal Dialogue — A table for two within you

Have you ever been to a press conference where questions are thrown at you? The answers have to be quick, witty, and satisfactory to the audience. Now in such a situation, it would be a ‘Dialogue’ — where two or more people are having a conversation.

Stay with that scenario, but now make it imaginary, and completely internal. That’s right, within yourself, you are giving answers to questions asked by a journalist, who is nothing more than a figment of your imagination.

Many of us must have done it once or maybe more times in our lives. If not, then try, it is a really fun experience. To cite an example; in my teenage years, I used to have imaginary press conferences as a football manager, playing FIFA 2007. This was a decade before EA decided to have a press conference feature in their flagship game.

EA managed to make the internal press conferences in my head real in their flagship football game.

So, before or after a match against important teams, I used to have this imaginary press conference in my head, where I am being asked pointed questions — Mostly it would be before matches against Liverpool, and my questions would invariably feature Fernando Torres, and how he could destroy my team’s well laid plans.

But here’s the kicker: what once seemed like harmless fun can actually be a superpower in disguise. Take it from me — I had my epiphany during a real press conference at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as a newbie cricket correspondent. Rahul Dravid, fresh off his success with the under-19 team, was now fielding questions as head coach of the Indian Cricket Team. His responses were nothing short of impressive, delivered with the calm confidence that earned him the nickname “The Wall.” It was then that I realized the true potential of the Internal Dialogue.

So, how does the ‘Internal Dialogue’ help in asking the right questions?

When you are answering a question, you will always keep in mind the audience it is going to, and hence ask the questions that the audience will want an answer for. That’s how you keep the content interesting, and engaging for the audience.

Is it a superpower for copywriting?

‘Internal Dialogue’ is a helpful tool in general for writers. As I ventured into the world of content, and copywriting I realized that it was a ‘Superpower’. In Gameskraft, writing content for Rummy or Poker, I understood that the first step towards writing good content is putting yourself in the consumer’s shoes.

So just like my imaginary press conferences, now I first wrote a one-liner, and then read it back to myself, as if I am the customer. The key question here was, does this resonate with me? If not, then I will look for alternative lines, and maybe paraphrase the context of the post differently.

‘Internal Dialogue’ for a creative spark?

The magic of the Internal Dialogue doesn’t stop there. As I discovered in my journey from cricket writing to copywriting, it’s also a powerful tool for sparking creativity. When you’re stuck in a rut, unsure of where to turn for inspiration, sometimes all it takes is a conversation with yourself to unlock that creative spark.

I can tell you that ‘Internal Dialogue’ is the best way to achieve that alpha state of mind which enhances creativity. Many will tell you, it is ‘Chat GPT’, but trust me there is nothing better than reaching into the depths of your mind for something unique, and no AI tool will be able to beat that.

For Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, it was going on a run in the morning in misty Portland. That’s how he came across the idea for the legendary sports brand. For me, it is the ‘Internal Dialogue’ — I occasionally come across ideas as if another person is telling me ‘Write it like this, it is exciting or don’t write it like this, it is not engaging enough’.

Gives you perspective for great copy — long or short!

At every point in their careers, all copywriters have to go through the process of post-copy editing. This is usually done by a second or third person, who originally did not write the piece.

So, when you are writing a copy, a long blog or a snappy social media caption, the first perspective should come from within. If you have a voice inside you that can tell you — ‘Bro, accha hai par maaza nahi aaya!’ (translates to ‘Bro, this is good but not fun enough!’), then you know that something is missing or you can add something to spice things up.

The ‘Internal Dialogue’ with a second person is happening within yourself, you now can look at something you’ve written, from another perspective. Good, bad or ugly, now you know how to make that copy better even before it goes to editing.