Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE # 260
If you’ve ever sat down to write an email, a proposal, or a key piece of marketing copy and you’ve felt a cacophony in your head, you’re not alone and you’re losing your mind.
You’re experiencing a fundamental truth of the creative process: you are not a single self.
You are a portfolio of selves. A collection of viewpoints.
You are an assortment of old and young; brave and timid; wise and clueless; strong and emotional, and often, all at the same time.
So again, you’re not losing your mind, nor are you in need of psychiatric help, it’s that we are all a combination of varying parts of our mind.
Think of it like this: inside your mind there’s a conference room in which there’s a large table. Seated around the table are different versions of you, each with a distinct role, a unique voice, and a specific are of expertise and agenda.
The success of your project—whether it’s an email, a detailed blog post, a multi-million dollar campaign, or a heartfelt personal essay—all depends entirely on which one of the people sitting at that conference table you allow to take the lead.
The problem for most creators, artists, writers, and leaders isn’t a lack of skill, talent, or ability. It’s more often a case of a lack of conscious delegation.
Again and again when a more suitable voice might be better taking the lead, we let the less well-prepared self run the meeting, call the shots, and make all the decisions.
As a result, the project suffers for it.
Let’s meet the key players in your internal portfolio of brilliant minds.
1. The Expert
This is the you with the credentials, the data, and the deep, granular knowledge of any given subject. The Expert often speaks in precise, technical language that everyone ought to be familiar with but aren’t. The Expert is essential for building credibility and authority. But let them lead a sales page, and you’ll get a dense, feature-heavy manual that bores your audience to tears. While the Expert is your foundation, they are seldom your best front-facing person.
2. The Skeptic
Arms crossed, eyebrow raised, The Skeptic is your internal quality control manager. Their job is to ask, “Is this true? Is this clear? Could this be misinterpreted?” They are your defense against easily-jumped-to-conclusions, logical fallacies, and sloppy thinking. However, if you let the Skeptic speak during the initial creative burst, there’s a strong chance they will dismantle every nascent idea before it’s had a chance to breathe. They are the editor, but they are not the writer.
3. The Storyteller
This is the emotional core of your work. The Storyteller doesn’t just present facts; they weave them into a compelling, spirited narrative that keeps people enthusiastically engaged and wanting more. They understand conflict, resolution, and the human connection. They are the master of metaphor and the architect of empathy. The Storyteller is the person you call on when you need to move people emotionally and when you want to make them feel something. But without the grounding of the Expert, their work can often feel unsubstantial.
4. The Student
Curious, open, and endlessly questioning, The Student is your first person portal to a world of exciting exploration and genuine discovery. They aren’t afraid to say, “I don’t know,” nor do they shy away from asking the simple yet often overlooked questions that often lead to breakthroughs. The Student is crucial for innovation, for learning a new skill, or for approaching a tired topic with fresh eyes. They are the antidote to your own expertise.
How to consciously choose your lead voice
Awareness is the first step. Strategy is the next.
To accomplish this you must become the Chairperson or President of your internal board. This requires taking two minutes to consciously decide who is leading the charge before your set out to create the thing in question.
When to lead with The Expert:
Writing a white paper or technical documentation.
Building a case study that hinges on specific, impressive results.
Responding to a highly technical query where precision is paramount.
Prompt to activate them: “My goal is to demonstrate undeniable authority on ... subject X”
When to lead with The Skeptic:
Reviewing a first draft for logic and clarity.
Preparing for a tough Q&A or a debate.
Final proofreading and fact-checking.
Prompt to activate them: “My job right now is to find every single flaw and potential misunderstanding in this line of thinking. What is it?”
When to lead with The Storyteller:
Crafting your brand’s “About Us” page.
Writing a fundraising appeal or a keynote speech.
Developing social media content that needs to connect and engage.
Prompt to activate them: “How can I make my audience the hero of this narrative?”
When to lead with The Student:
Brainstorming a new campaign or product idea.
Writing a personal blog post about a lesson learned.
Interviewing a subject matter expert.
Prompt to activate them: “What if I knew nothing about this? Where would I look? What would I find odd, interesting, or fascinating?”
The magic, of course, happens in the process of getting these main voices to collaborate because every one of them brings value and substance to the table.
The Student makes a wild discovery. The Storyteller shapes it into a compelling narrative. The Expert grounds it in objectivity and fact. And finally, the Skeptic polishes it for public consumption.
The goal is not to silence any one voice, but to give them the floor in the right order.
The friction between them isn’t a problem to be solved; it’s the creative process itself.
So, the next time you face a blank page or a new project, don’t just ask, “What do I want to say?” Ask the more powerful question: “Which ‘me’ is best suited to say it?”
No matter where you are on your content creation journey, your portfolio of selves is your greatest asset. It’s time you started managing it.
As always, thanks for reading.
—Gary
Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn
P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.
Next time on Shaking the Tree: What Grand Designs teaches us about content creation
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.