Immediately after this event I started using the “Yes—And” linguistic strategy in my everyday work. I found that it was really effective in collaborative projects with coworkers and classmates, but more interestingly, it was also helpful to use with tutoring clients as well as self-reflexively. 

When I used the “Yes—And” technique with clients I helped tutees in the Center for Writing and Speaking to flesh out their ideas. By using “Yes—And” strategy, I was able to assist writers and presenters with building momentum in their brainstorming, which usually led them to produce a greater number of creative ideas. Additionally, this strategy helped me to assist writers and presenters in taking their ideas further by teaching them how to turn off their own internal editors. By using the “Yes—And” method I was able to help clients take generate new ideas and take their innovation further. 

Once I started applying this linguistic technique with tutees, I tried to apply it to how I thought about myself. I used it as a thought prompting tool for everything from generating new ideas for written content to  maintaining my creative momentum on long-term projects to turning off my own internal editor to overcome creative obstacles.