When Gloria asked about job interviews, I asked when the interview was and what kind of job it involved. I wanted to understand the situation before talking about how I would prepare for it.
The part I discussed was an Intentional Dream. I knew the pattern of imagining the worst beforehand: blocks, the first name I might not get out, the questions I feared. I wanted to explain how I worked with a different picture.
What did I ask her to imagine?
I described the interview as if it were going well. Sitting with someone, talking, reaching the end and shaking hands. In the scene, the interviewer was impressed and excited.
Those were parts of an imagined picture. I was asking what the situation would look and feel like if it went the way she wanted. I was not recounting something an employer had actually said to her.
The feeling was the part I wanted to bring into it
In my own explanation, introducing myself to doctors was a difficult situation. I pictured walking into the room and shaking a person's hand. I brought in the feeling from a happy memory of meeting a sports hero.
I knew how that excitement felt. I wanted that feeling inside the scene of introducing myself, where I would normally have imagined panic and difficulty.
The full Intentional Dream explanation contains the other examples I used to show that connection between a memory, a feeling and the speaking situation.
Why did I ask to continue face to face?
I said the explanation would work better when I could talk with her on camera. I wanted to see her face and make sure she understood the picture I was describing.
I wanted to talk it through with her and see whether the picture made sense to her. That was why I asked to continue the explanation on camera.
What about knowing what I want to talk about?
In my ordinary-conversation material, I have said that I can know the topic and write down a few ideas without deciding every word in advance. In work calls, I also remember real details about the person so I have something to ask about.
Those are examples of preparation I can actually use. I still have to listen to the question and respond to the person when the conversation happens.
I failed many times while learning to do that. Sometimes I blocked, or someone said something I wasn't quick enough to answer. The work went beyond imagining a good scene.
What this particular conversation gives us
It gives the question Gloria asked, my request for the circumstances, the interview picture I described and my reason for wanting a fuller discussion on camera.
For that interview, I wanted her to picture the introduction, the conversation and how she would feel as it ended. Then I wanted to hear how she understood the picture. That was the work I was proposing.