I subscribe to several blogs … One of them today used
WAY TOO MANY WORDS.
If I had read the entry carefully, I think what the guy had to say probably was good. But I got three sentences in and it all felt like blah, blah, blah, because I'd had a long day. And so I skimmed to the one bold sentence:
They learned long ago that there is a big difference between talking about changing your life and actually doing it.
Which, honestly, is a good thought. I just don't think he needed three screens to say it.
The other day, I was working with a married couple in counseling and asked the husband to communicate his sorrow to his wife for hurting her feelings. Before he even started, I interrupted him, because he was ramping up with three paragraphs of why he did it, why he was so lame, why he was so sorry, etc. And she was gearing up to zone out, because he tends to ramble, ramble, ramble.
I directed: "ONE sentence, using a feeling word."
"I know I hurt your feelings and that makes me sad."
BRAVO.
She heard him because he was clear.
Let your words be distilled and few.
Everyone will thank you.