Admittedly I have said those words to my wife and I am not proud it. Her point was made and chances are I was wrong. There is no need to keep beating a dead horse or in my case, reminding me that I am wrong. I get it. Shut up.
My beautiful wife Christal is a 2 sentence too many person. Go with me on this- I promise you I am not writing this to pick on her, but rather making a point about people and word economy. She has a tendency to pile on words and it does muddy communication. Telling me to pick up my socks is a one statement request. Telling me to do it with 3-4 sentences causes tune out and I lose focus with all the details.
It’s not the number of words it takes to make a statement-it’s the power of those words and the “thickness” of the sentence.
Politicians craft beautiful statements when on the campaign trail. Reading things that they, or someone they hired, wrote. They speak with lines reminiscent of positioning statements for brands and look for buzzwords that would hopefully catch fire with the audience and could be easily communicated to others. It’s as if they are up on stage shouting “where’s the beef” or something very similar. It’s not till you see the debates or when someone is asking them a question that is not off the script, do you see how efficient they are with their words. Those moments can make or break their campaigns. These same moments shape people’s opinions of you.
Be careful with the amount of words coming out of your mouth-specifically in times where you re trying to get a point across. A friend of mine asked for my advice about a big change that he had to relay to his staff. He wasn’t sure how the message would be received or how to convey it to the team. His goal was to make it more of a statement and less of a discussion. Admittedly, he was very concerned that certain members of the staff would push back and possibly take over his moment. I suggested he watch the scene from Moneyball where Jonah Hill’s character has to break it to a player that he has been traded. Brad Pitt gave him the advice of saying very little and being direct. Sure, it’s not the warmest way to conduct business, but there is no other way to do it easily. Watch the movie.
Chances are, if you are feeling like you are talking too much…you are. Everything can be said in fewer words than you think. In this A-D-D crazy world, you have to be direct and pointed with your words. Statements need to be made with fewer narratives in order to get your point across. We are are members of a blog and status update society and in some ways that makes us cold and detached. Sad, but true.
In the end, ask yourself this… Do you want the other person to pick up their “socks” or would you rather debate the topic for 10 minutes?
#Moneyball #bradpitt #Jonahhill #marriage #shutup #wordeconemy #wheresthebeef #obama #romney
