An award-winning psychologist reveals the hidden power of our inner voice and shows how we can
harness it to live a healthier more satisfying and more productive life. Tell a stranger that
you talk to yourself and you're likely to get written off as eccentric. But the truth is that
we all have a voice in our head. When we talk to ourselves we often hope to tap into our inner
coach but find our inner critic instead. When we're facing a tough task our inner coach can
buoy us up: Focus-you can do this. But just as often our inner critic sinks us entirely: I'm
going to fail. They'll all laugh at me. What's the use? In Chatter acclaimed psychologist
Ethan Kross explores the silent conversations we have with ourselves. Interweaving
groundbreaking behavioral and brain research from his own lab with real-world case studies-from
a pitcher who forgets how to pitch to a Harvard undergrad negotiating her double life as a
spy-Kross explains how these conversations shape our lives work and relationships. He warns
that giving in to negative and disorienting self-talk-what he calls chatter-can tank our health
sink our moods strain our social connections and cause us to fold under pressure. But the
good news is that we're already equipped with the tools we need to make our inner voice work in
our favor. These tools are often hidden in plain sight-in the words we use to think about
ourselves the technologies we embrace the diaries we keep in our drawers the conversations
we have with our loved ones and the cultures we create in our schools and workplaces.
Brilliantly argued expertly researched and filled with compelling stories Chatter gives us
the power to change the most important conversation we have each day: the one we have with
ourselves.
