All of my points are simultaneously useful for personal thought as well as for conversation with others. Words and thoughts form a feedback loop.
Decompose / Map. Try to understand X by breaking down each element, understand it individually and then concept mapping them (can be mental, but physical/visual is best) to see how they all operate together and locate loose ends or holes. Once you have this map, you now are capable of talking about it from any point, and ride the tangents. You can also identify where someone else is arguing from, and thus can thread your arguments around it, show them their holes and new insights. (Social hack: People love to be shown a new perspective without you ramming it down their throats. Its nice to leave breadcrumbs in the conversation but don't be too forceful, so they feel like you both arrived at the idea together; make them feel smart instead of stupid)
Contextualize / Limit. Trying to find a perfectly simple universal rule or reason is hard in a vacuum, you'll inevitably fail to consider N number of possibilities, making your thoughts largely useless in reality. Working from context (based on reality) towards a specific and limited rule is far better than working from an abstract all-encompassing ideal outwards.
Listen thrice / Ask first. Refrain from pushing out your hardest points or objections as soon as they pop up. Try hard to avoid early judgment. Asking why someone thinks X first, instead of assuming or going on a rant on how you think X is totally wrong, can bring you far more information and keep people in a better mood.
Semantic deconstruction / Word switch. A lot of misconceptions, logical errors, ambiguities and disagreements tend to occur due to prejudgements implicit in words. Identify key words/concepts and find their hidden assumptions and connotations, and try to find replacement words that might remove those issues, or reveal new connections. When someone uses a word in a way you disagree with, it's near impossible to redefine it for them; the semantic battle is often unwinnable and frustrating. Switching to using other words will likely be more useful. If there is no other word, perhaps its best to coin it.
Verbosity. If a word/concept keeps being a pain in the ass in spite of all attempts to reframe concisely, or your jargon is putting up a communication barrier, perhaps it's best to stop trying and be more descriptive. Briefness is useless if it leads to confusion, reductionism or misinterpretation; you'll end up using more words anyway trying to explain/correct the misconception, so skip the pain and spell things out from the start. All of the posts above suffer from jargon and by default limit their audience to those in the know. Always use a few small words over one big word.
Bodythought. You're not a brain in a vat. The mind emerges from a network of signals that extends into the whole body. Sometimes insights come when pacing about, gesticulating, fiddling, doodling, or chewing gum. Perhaps write it down, or say it out loud. Sensitive and complex body features like hands and mouth involve a lot of brain cpu and are deeply related to emotions and logical-verbal processes, from sign communication to writing, speech and kissing; various stimulation to these seem to activate/deactivate diverse brain areas and circumstantially enhance thinking/memory. It's worth to keep an eye on this idea and experiment with it.
