When half is better than the whole

I’m going to age myself a bit, but I’ve been a lifelong fan of Bob Newhart. The youngest of us will know him as Professor Proton on the TV sitcom Big Bang. While others remember the TV show Newhart or the earlier show The Bob Newhart show. Side note: The finale of the Newhart show is still regarded as one of the best. The writers collapsed the entire 8-season show as just a dream in his original show.

But those of us who have lived long enough will remember Newhart for his stand-up comedy. He specialized in one-sided conversations of which phone calls were a big part of his routine. Being a student of communication and messaging, I’ve come to understand why I was impressed and remember so much of his material. He invited me to fill in the blanks. He let me imagine the other side of the conversation.

As humans, we love solving problems. Our brains are wired to observe, listen and evaluate in an effort to understand. At our home, we like to put together puzzles. We’ll layout a 1000-piece puzzle on the dining table and over a few days, various family members are drawn in and volunteer their time to the effort. But there is one special moment – the Lilly moment. When the last piece is handed to our 4-year old granddaughter and she has the honor of putting in that last piece. And she loves it. Even though she was not involved in any of the previous work, that act of finishing the picture makes her feel like she did the work.

Audiences are like that. All too often, as speakers, we tell our audiences everything. We unpack and unload all the relevant information available. We don’t miss a single point. As a result, our audiences sit in educate me mode.

Consider this. Next opportunity to have to share a message or idea, think of a way you can lead the audience to putting in that last piece. How can you share your idea in a way that they solve the untold portion? If you do, I guarantee they will not only appreciate your message, but they will also be more likely to remember and be impacted by what you say.

Here’s a couple of Bob Newhart bits that I strongly suggest for my Marketing and Sales friends.

Marketing/Advertising

Sales