I used to be the crazy guy walking his dogs, talking out loud to himself. I would recite all the prestart routines, engine start, radio calls, pre-take off run ups, take off, circuit calls, downwind checks, etc out loud as a way of making them more second nature to me.
I found it really helped, particularly with the radio calls, stopped me getting tongue tied.
I find I still do it when I am having withdrawals between flights ... Lol.
Phil