BILL FARQUHARSON This flight attendant is not unique. There are lots of people who use 320 words to say what could have been said in ten. They drone on, think while talking, and have far too few unspoken thoughts. And somehow, they seem to find me. They sit next to me on planes. I get stuck in a conversation with them at a party. One such offender recently left my Sales Vault. He made it a habit of attending its Zoom sales workshops not to learn, but to display his superiority on any given subject. Complaints from other attendees poured in. It seems I was not alone. He quit before I could ask him to speak less and listen more. But why do people do it? Perhaps they are in love with the sweet sound of their own voice. Or maybe they believe themselves to be so fascinating, others surely must be waiting to hear what they have to say on a subject. It could be they feel their audience needs everything man-splained. Oh, how I wish I had a Harry Potter-like spell to cast, whereby a thought would be held inside and curated to contain the point being made and expressed using an economy of words. It reminds me of the movie, A River Runs Through It and a lesson a father was trying to teach his son. Did you see it? A young boy is being homeschooled and brings a writing assignment to his father, played by Tom Skerritt. Over and over again, the father instructs his son to use half as many words to make the same point. Finally earning his father’s approval, off he goes to fish. Looking back on this first paragraph, I might have been a little repetitive myself. I wonder if I could take my own advice, channel that little boy, and make my point in half as many words. Let’s see. (320 words). In one of my favorite movies of all time, A River Runs Through It, Tom Skerritt is homeschooling his son and has him write an essay. The young man retreats to his desk and obediently creates a page-long masterpiece before dutifully returning to his father’s office and handing it over. His father, who pastors the local church, makes rapid corrections, circles and crosses across the page before returning it to his son with the words, “Half as much.” The son returns later, having met this task, only to find his father once again marking up the document, much to the young boy’s despair, adding the words as he peers over his reading glasses, “Half again.” Once more, the words used are scrutinized and the report becomes economical and efficient and this time when he walks into his father’s office, class is dismissed, fishing rods are grabbed, and the boy runs off with his brother to pursue their growing passion. (160 words) In the movie, A River Runs Through It, a homeschooled boy is asked to write an essay. The young man creates a one-page report, then returns and hands it to his father, who makes edits before handing it back along with the instructions, “Half as much.” The son makes another attempt, and the father again marks up the page before sending the boy back with the instructions, “Half again.” One more attempt yields an economic essay. Class is dismissed. (80 words) A homeschooled boy is assigned to write an essay. His father/teacher instructs him to make the same points using half as many words. This continues until the boy succeeds. The lesson is one of brevity without compromising message quality. (40 words) Most of us take too long to make our point. There is power in making economical communication choices. Appreciation, too. (20 words) Get your message across using as few words as possible. (10 words) There! I made my point! (5 words) Bill Farquharson is an author who lives in Boston (USA). His 3 books on print sales can be purchased at SalesVault.pro/Image Bill can be reached at [email protected] THE SALES VAULT with Bill Farquharson Get instantly applicable sales ideas & inspiration! Visit SalesVaultInsider.com/Image for on-demand sales training courses and to download Bill's books. SalesVaultInsider.com/Image WWW.IMAGEMAGAZINE.COM.AU AUG/SEP 2022 45
