We asked you (thanks to James M) your best word-finding tips. And you delivered… a lot.

There were so many that we couldn’t cover them all in the chat, so we rounded them up here. If one doesn’t work for you, try the next.

Word-Finding Tips

• Apps: Lingraphica and Tactus Therapy -Joseph G
• As a non-traditional student, I always look up synonyms for words that I keep repeating in my essay papers, and if you know the first or last letter of the word you can always type it in the Google search or look through a dictionary -James M
• Association and time -Crisan I
• Association, look up, and my executive assistant -Tasha
• At present, I usually work to remember and remember and then write it down. I do find that after a few reminder efforts, I generally do begin to remember -Debbie M
• Before I talking, I try to words in my mind. Obviously, I need the world to slow down. -Joe M
• Call Google or Siri -Carol I
• Checking on the written lists of papers I have of various words; typing on my laptop the word to confirm the spelling or definition or how to pronounce it -Cheryl M
• Choose a different word to say that means almost the same thing -James B
• Circumlocution -Kim S
• Circumlocution, semantic feature analysis, + gestures -Kori S
• Circumlocutions, giving any cues that I can find at the time to others in the hope they’ll get what I mean -Peter S
• Communication book -Juanita F
• Computer thesaurus -Trazana S
• Constant reading and writing -Robert M
• Cueing -Tasha S
• Describe the object -Erica H
• Describe the situation, like “water from the sky” = rain -Peter S
• Describe the word. Gesture. Association – a very similar word -Lisa
• Describe with other words -Melora J
• Describing items, being patient, and then assisting -Michelle
• Describing the word to someone. Staying calm and not frustrated with the hope that it comes to my brain space -Molly H
• Dictionary -Shaun B
• Dictionary/thesaurus in Google -Vikki M
• Drawings, circumlocution, gestures, computers -Dennis C
• Examples and probing questions -Tashaya S
• Flow chart -Jay D
• (During the chat, Nancy M, a speech-language pathologist mentioned using semantic feature analysis for anyone interested in learning more)
• Giving yourself time -Serena R
• I don’t use the word. I try to find something else to say that is the same thing as what I was going to say -James B
• I have seen a total communication approach work best, though I often see PWA benefit from miming the target word or use of it being a very useful strategy -Laura M
• I keep a small memo book to keep new words and learn critical words or use digital words/forms -Dennis N
• I like looking at pictures -Joe C
• I set a goal -Claire R
• I talk around it. I describe it. I give things that are like it -Donna B
• I tried to picture it in my mind & talk around the words -Yvonne B
• I try my best to know the word or words my grandma knows and wants to say but cannot -Nikki
• I use another word -Elizabeth H
• I use my phone and my iPad to talk through the microphone -Betsy M
• I used the Elevate app, which challenges me to find synonyms, spelling, and other academic studies -James M
• I’ll google it -Deb C
• I’m new to this and have only used printed reminders from the workbook for word retrieval that was used by speech therapists -Bernard L
• If I hear a word I don’t know about then I type it in and I will recognize the word. If I can’t remember the word then I will type in about it and it will help me remember the word -Bruce L
• If my husband is trying to figure out a month he wants to reference, he starts by saying the months in order -Lynne
• Index cards with written notes -Frank G
• iPhone -Joseph G
• Just say ‘I’ll get back to you” if I can’t remember -Julia B
• Look up info sent to me online, look at earlier emails, review earlier emails -Debbie M
• Make word lists -Elma L
• Need to repeat what is spoken to me -Shawn P
• Pace myself -Doreen M
• Pausing, using synonyms -Valerie C
• Pictures help me very much. I like to sing, and that helps me also to find the correct phrases -Joe C
• Practice with Tactus apps, use description, slow down, and wait a few seconds -Dominique S
• Practice. Give examples when talking to others. Just work around the word by explaining, giving examples, etc. Games also help me. I love playing Taboo and Scattergories! -Kai C
• Read a lot, think a lot -Robert M
• Reading and substitute similar words -Jim G
• Relax as much as I can and just let the word come rather than try to force it to come -Charlotte N
• Relax before speaking or nothing comes out -Ted R
• Repeating the answer and repeating, and repeating and repeating -Elizabeth H
• Repetition and practice before speaking -Barbara K
• Say as many words around that word as I can until I get to the word I want. It jogs my memory -Jeri W
• Scanning the alphabet in my mind; trying to visualize the actual word -Farra D
• Slowing down your speech tends to help with me and sometimes I still get stuck -James M
• Spelling the word -Pauline G
• Start with descriptions of the item/place/person. You know, like it’s a man and he was at the last meeting in a red shirt… and then try the words -Lou Ann K
• Stay calm and thinking slowly is the best way -Fredrick R
• Stop and think awhile -Mike C
• Struggle -Nancy K
• Sub similar words and read books or newspapers -Jim G
• Synonyms, delay in time (returning to the problem) -Valerie
• Take my time to think about what I am trying to say -Mildred B
• Take notes on my calendar or notebook also add to my daily information page -Debbie M
• Take slow -Kevin K
• Talk around the word -Lisa
• The Grammarly app is free, and I love to use it for writing so my sentences make sense, especially as a non-traditional student -James M
• The internet -Veronica B
• Think of an associated category -Marisa S
• Think of similar words to express them -Lucia C
• Try not to stress & slow down… give me some time to think -Jon
• Use Google to find the word I’m looking for -Christopher L
• Use similar words that come to mind & work from there -Suzanne
• Using communication boards -Shan L
• Using gesture, and also circumlocution, often helps the interlocutor guess the intended message -Madhura M
• Using hands -Doug B
• Visualization -Nancy M
• Visualize -Joyce D
• Wait a minute/funny gesture, gestures, P2Go app, describe, draw, lookup, never mind -Trish H
• Walking through the alphabet -Mike and Jeannette K
• Word searches on apps -Joe C
• Work backward -John B
• Write it down -Dorothy B
• Write the word down in Samsung Notes and then look it up under Google. You can try it -Mertro R
• Writing -Kathy B
• Writing them down. Or relying on my wife to remind me -James S

What are your best word-finding tips?