In “Talk,” Alison Wood Brooks mines years of data to optimize your conversations.

Self-talk shapes our emotional responses, influences decision-making, and plays a substantial role in determining how we navigate obstacles. Controlling this internal dialogue may be more ...

For many of us, our inner voice is our harshest critic, tearing us down with a running commentary of self-doubt and blame. And yet, we’d never talk to a friend—or even a stranger—that way.