Thinking Out Loud Methods

There are many different methods of ThinkingOutLoud - DoingStuff.DonaldNoyes.20141015

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Offering Thoughts for all to see

Let those around you hear what you're thinking and invite input on your thoughts. The effect of doing thinking out loud and publicly is that it will probably evoke opinions which either support, amplify or contradict and minimize. Some might say "I have a similar but different idea that is Perhaps Better" response, leading to interaction and Dialogue. Depending on the intrusiveness of feedback though, this may lead to a loss of your train of thought.

Solo brainstorming

Write down thoughts as they occur, where your are, when you think them. Whether at home, at work, during refreshment, while sitting on a park bench, while travelling (in waiting area, in your seat while travelling) If a thought comes to mind, record it. Perhaps not more than a short sentence or a series of concepts in a list. Just do it. In doing so, many sub-thoughts or branching thoughts occur. Write these down as branches and things to check out, If at a computer you might even make the branching thoughts into hyperlinks. The idea is that later you may develop the thought the branch suggests. One can come back at a later time and review the thoughts, adding or modifying, as I am just now doing to this page, having had additional time to think about what this thinking strategy is about.
- "By the simple action of typing out an idea, tagging it with a couple of relevant words and attaching something to demonstrate your point, the idea is already better… because it’s OUT THERE! And the mere fact that you wondered what Suzy in Accounting or John in R&D might think made your idea better because you accounted for their perspectives"
  - Product Specialist Director JenEpting KindlingIdeaManagement
  - See: http://www.kindlingapp.com/blog/part-ii-what-makes-an-idea-good/

Make your thoughts words others can hear

Also known as RubberDucking. The act of expressing your idea in oral form can activate different parts of your brain. The simple act of rewording your idea into a form suitable for speech can often be enough to trigger further thought. You might even record thoughts as they occur in vocal form on cassette tape, or using one of the modern digital recorders no larger than a FountainPen. In this way the vocalization becomes ThinkingOutLoud.

Use a public wiki

A suitable wiki may be a place where you can expose some of your ThinkingOutLoud. Taking the results of some thinking paths you have developed which show promise in development as ideas. Add some structure and organization so the thoughts are clear rather than confusing, being clearly understandable by someone else. In this case you become not just a thinker, but also a writer, utilizing such skills in presentation as you have to be clear and concise. Others will correct your mistakes, add to, subtract from and pursue additional lines of thought in the page you begin. Don't be afraid to indicate incomplete or tangential thoughts as WantedPages, or by adding hyperlinks to previously formed pages. Then others can use them to develop thoughts included in the hyperlink.

Sketch on a whiteboard

Expand your thinking (design, whatever) for all to see on the wall. Passersby will be drawn in to an examination of the idea and will offer suggestions, if they have any. You may incorporate the best of the new ideas as they are presented to you.

Using thought symbols expressed in groupings

CrcCards are a prime example. Also any of the ArtfullyIncompleteSpecification's hinted by WardCunningham including his latest (2012-present) : the SmallestFederatedWiki.

Facebook, Twitter, ConversationalBlog
- particularly useful from mobile or SmallFootprintComputing environments