Tell Me What You're Thinking

Professor Dolson asked a question at the end of last class that really stuck with me. What makes people want to tell us things? This may not be hard to answer when thinking about your friends, or family. They tell you things because they trust you. They know you'll listen to them and even give them advice if its needed. However, in a writing consultation the writer doesn't know you beyond your name and where you go to school. Of course the writer isn't sharing super personal topics with you about their lives, but depending on the writing there may be personal aspects tied in. Even if the writing is completely academic analysis, it is still the writers original ideas that they may be insecure about. So how, after knowing someone for all of five minutes can you get the to feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts about their writing and other thoughts they may have about the topic at hand? Obviously there is no concrete answer to this question. If there were, robots would be doing consultations, not people. I think you have to try and be as friendly as possible. No one is going to open up to someone who is not smiling or at least seeming like a nice person. Another important aspect is not seeming nervous. I know I'm a little nervous for this saturday, but if I come across nervous that could potentially make the writer feel even more nervous. Hopefully these tactics will work and allow the writer to feel comfortable enough to start the academic conversation about their writing.