Honest ways to start your answer out loud. Pick the type of question, take an opener, and finish it in your own words.
Build a question
Open your answer
Quick quiz
My journal
1What do you want from the cards?
Advicewhat do I do?
Observationwhat is actually going on?
Outcomewhere does this lead?
2Who or what is it about?
Me
Them
Us
The situation
3Pick your wording
4Finish the sentence
YOUR QUESTION
Start at step 1 to build your question.
1What were they asking for?
Advicewhat do I do?
Observationwhat is going on?
Outcomewhere does this lead?
2Take an opener and finish it
FIVE RULES FOR SAYING IT
Say may, might, looks like, seems to be. You are reading a picture, not reading the future.
Answer the question they asked. Not the one you find more interesting.
Start with what you can see. Colour, posture, number. Evidence first, message second.
One clear sentence beats five clever ones. Say it, then stop talking.
End on something they can do. A reading without a next step is just a review.
✦Test yourself
Your intuition guides you in a real reading. The framework tells you what a card could mean, and this is where critical thinking does the work. This is pretend practice, not a comment on your reading overall.