Why I Put the RALS Method on GitHub

I've published the RALS Method on GitHub.

For those unfamiliar with it, RALS stands for Riff, Anchor, Lift, Shred.

It's a communication method I developed to help turn an observation, experience, or idea into something meaningful and useful to someone else.

The structure is simple.

Riff: What's the topic? What's happening? What's the observation, issue, or question worth talking about?

Anchor: What's your connection to it? What have you personally experienced, witnessed, or learned that gives you a credible perspective?

Lift: Why does it matter? What's the meaning someone else might recognize and take away for themselves?

Shred: What can they do with it? What's the practical takeaway they can apply, explore, or act upon?

There's also something I call the Handoff. It can happen between Anchor and Lift, when someone recognizes their own experience in what you've shared and begins making the thought their own.

You can't force that. And you don't need to.

RALS works in writing, presentations, conversations, teaching, and just about anywhere people need to communicate something.

AI can be helpful in assembling and organizing the material. It can also help examine whether you've made your point clearly.

The actual experience and perspective still have to come from somewhere.

I've written about RALS before. Now I've decided to put the method itself in a public repository.

Here's why.

Ideas are more interesting when they travel

I've never been particularly interested in keeping useful ideas to myself.

If something I've developed helps another person communicate an idea, explain an experience, or make something clearer for somebody else, I think that's a good outcome.

I don't need to be involved in that process.

They don't need to become a client. They don't need to agree with everything I've written.

In fact, I'd be interested in hearing where they disagree.

RALS emerged from years of writing, communicating, and experimenting with ways to get thoughts out of my head and into the world.

It wasn't developed in a laboratory. I'm not claiming it's scientifically validated or that everyone should communicate this way.

It's something I've found useful enough to document and share.

Others can decide what they think of it.

Why GitHub?

GitHub might seem like an unusual place to publish a communication method.

Most people associate it with software development.

What interests me is the way it preserves a record of work.

The original material can be examined. Changes can be documented. Earlier versions remain part of the history.

Sources can be linked. Attribution can be maintained. People can see what was published and how it developed.

That appeals to me.

I've spent a great deal of time thinking and writing about evidence, provenance, identity, and how people establish credibility in a world where convincing content can be produced by almost anyone, or anything.

Those considerations should apply to my own work, too.

If I'm going to talk about the importance of making ideas and claims verifiable, I should be willing to make my own work available for examination.

GitHub gives me a practical place to do that.

What happens next?

I don't know.

Someone might use RALS exactly as I've described it.

Someone else might adapt it to something I never considered.

Others might find it completely unnecessary.

That's fine.

I'll continue developing and documenting the method as I learn more. The repository gives that work a home and a history.

And if somebody discovers a better way of doing something, I'd be interested in understanding it.

The point of publishing RALS isn't to establish that I have the final answer.

It's to make the work available.

The documentation, examples, origins, and attribution information are collected here:

The RALS Method — GitHub

If you find it useful, use it.

If not, ignore it.

Either way, the work is there.

About Bob Manor 

Bob Manor is the founder of  South Ontario Auto Remarketing , Can-Am Dealer Services , and co-founder of Auto Auction Review. He’s also the creator of  Influence.vin, a branding and communication studio built for the car business. With over 30 years in the automotive world, Bob specializes in wholesale, dealer services, and identity-driven brand strategy. He’s a regular contributor to well-known automotive publications and uses his platforms to help industry pros re-align with who they are, not just what they do

Disclaimer:
These are my own observations and interpretations, based on lived experience inside this industry.
This is not financial, legal, or professional advice ... it is pattern recognition, shared for awareness and strategic consideration only