Chatter

The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It

By: Ethan Kross

Narrated by: Ethan Kross

National Best Seller

An award-winning psychologist reveals the hidden power of our inner voice and shows how to harness it to combat anxiety, improve physical and mental health, and deepen our relationships with others.

Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book Award

“A masterpiece.” (Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit • Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink’s Next Big Idea Club Winter 2021 Winning Selection)

One of the best new books of the year - The Washington Post, BBC, USA Today, CNN Underscored, Shape, Behavioral Scientist, PopSugar • Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness starred reviews

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.

©2021 Ethan Kross (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“There’s something deeply mysterious, even awesome, about our inner voice, the means by which we make ourselves aware of who we are and what we think. Kross has good ideas about how to manage and control this voice.” (The New Yorker)

“Are there right and wrong ways to communicate with yourself, and if so, are there techniques that might usefully be employed by those with inner voices that are just a little too loud?... Kross has found answers to some, if not all, of these questions.... [Chatter] could hardly be published at a more opportune moment.” (The Guardian)

“This compelling collection of stories examines the power that we have to harness our positive and negative thoughts through the conversations we have with ourselves in silent and the incredible that’s already within us to embrace our highest self.” (CNN)

Helpful insights

This book was both educational and helpful!
Understanding how our ‘head chatter’ is not only normal but has a purpose was helpful context. The tools are the reason I was drawn to this book and hoping I can make good use of these for myself and also potentially to help others.

A Book That Helped Me See The Bigger Picture!

It's quite amazing how things happen for a reason. Recently, I was bullied by rejecting a man from Facebook Dating saying we aren't a good match. I went with my inner voice or Chatter as this book calls it. That night I got an email book recommendation from Penguin and it was this book. I had a free credit on Audible and I made up my mind, then purchased it.

Little did I know that I would encounter a story told by Ethan. Normally when I encounter or come across books similar to this one I was expecting a whole lecture on our thought processes. This book is totally different! I will not give away spoilers for there are many that come to mind. But, what I can say is that if you are an introvert and also an over thinker then this book is for you.

I've always ignored my chatter, never went with it, my intuition etc. Recently, I went with it due to relationships in dating. Because of that I learned how to harness my emotions and to not react when provoked to do so by someone else who is angry. Trust me...this book gets 5 stars. Read it and learn about your own chatter. Recognize it and use it to the best of your advantage.

Essential

This book should be taught in high school. If students could learn how to navigate “Chatter” that goes on in their mind at a young age, I believe the result would be phenomenal for years to come.
At age 65, I wish I had these tools to process my “Chatter” through out my life.
Ethan is easy to listen to in this Audible.

Nicely done

Supporting fellow Columbia Alumna, I chose to listen to this book while experiencing really intense mind chatter myself. Ethan Kross explains relevant concepts and experiments really well and shares interesting stories that keep this both informative and engaging. Overall, a great book to those interested in understanding how to navigate our self talk.

Meditation

Meditation is perhaps the most thorough way of distancing.

I would have been very interested to have learned how the various skills are approaches to meditation might be used to improve our relationship with inner dialogue.

And a closer study of inner dialogue as a functional tool to all human beings would’ve been helpful.

My personal perspective is that humans are creatures that swim in time and energy center inner chatter is it navigational tool that one’s fully understand can easily be mastered.

If for any reason you would enjoy discussing this further my number is 310-909-9293 and my name is BOYD WILLAT. I live in Los Angeles.

Back in the 90s I developed a product called the DayRunner which was indeed a navigational tool.

Respectfully, Boyd

Great book and helped to clear out the chatter!!!

I loved this book. The author is well educated and very credible. I enjoyed how he broke out each chapter in a way that I could apply the principles to my everyday life. I especially like the fly on the wall and the 3rd person dialogue. Excellent book. Easy to comprehend. And easy to apply in my day-to-day life. Well done!

The information I needed

This book helped me understand what's going on inside my head and provided tools on how to control it. Ethan Cross did a great job narrating and his voice is easy to listen to.

Insightful and helpful

This is an indispensable tool for someone like me who is skeptical of and often plays mind games with my own inner voice. It puts into perspective what I have long suspected about my own chatter: that it is amusing, random and mundane, and that sometimes, I shouldn’t take it too seriously.

Recommend.

The book left me with things I’m still implementing in my life and it’s helping. That is what makes a great book.

Loved this book!

I enjoyed listening to this book so much that I bought a physical copy. I learned so much about how the mind works thank you for sharing you knowledge in a significant way.