UNO clarinet instructor Dr. Emily McIvor’s article “Self-Talk for Musicians” is published in the National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI) Journal’s Winter 2019 edition. The article discusses self-talk, the means through which we talk (and think) to ourselves about our current circumstances. Self-talk reflects how we feel and believe about those circumstances, and can be used to beneficially manipulate our responses to them. Emphasizing one’s ability to achieve a successful performance, regardless of a piece’s current status, helps us and our students realize that one’s reaction to one’s playing is not necessarily indicative of the playing itself. Self-talk can be used to create mental space between the performance in the moment, assessment of that performance’s quality, and the player’s emotional responses–to treat them as objectively as possible, and thereby learn from them.