I come from a family of teachers - both parents taught all their lives and now oversee Ed.D candidates, brother owns a school - which has left me painfully aware of the fact that I am *not* a great teacher.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/07/delicious-pizza/#hold-the-gravel
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@pluralistic I really liked a set of university of Chicago writing videos, e.g. one below that clarified for me that I'm 'writing to think' (which no one wants to read) or I am writing for an audience, which allows me to reduce scope to simplify the work to that specific audience's need, so that wiring is not overwhelming for me and also keeps my message in control and not wandering. https://youtu.be/aFwVf5a3pZM?si=8i72Vlg4YzuDtzq3
This is a great lecture by Prof. McEnerney. It's something I discovered years ago, learned, and share with the students and young professionals I mentor (and I am still working on).
Along with this lecture and the rest of the series I love the "How to Speak" lecture by Prof. Patrick Winston of MIT. I was fortunate enough to see Prof. Winston present this live but it is a great presentation on speaking to an audience that pairs well with writing for an audience.
