Tags
Couch abstract problems in human terms, How to be interesting, Talk about human problems, Talk about people
Time and attention are all we have, so we should cherish those things above everything. We as individuals, as a species and as a community live by those simple limitations. We come into existence, we live, and we go on into the void but during our brief time of living we have our attention and we can choose to some degree where we place that attention and use our time.
There are some genetically inherited things which attract our attention like eyes looking at us. Our automatic reflexes determine our actions if those eyes are perceived as predatory. We are very attuned to eyes and from them we are able to intuitively recognize the emotional state behind them and act accordingly. So we naturally pay attention to eyes which are intense and goal oriented. When watching TV we watch the actors’ eyes and beginning actors are trained to stare intently into their opposite actors’ eyes while saying their lines. This rigid staring becomes obvious and odious once you notice the actors doing it. A more natural form is to vary the attention and the direction of the eyes depending upon what is being said and heard.
People naturally listen to a story more easily than a step-by-step relating of an abstract thought, even though the abstraction will carry more useful information per unit of time. People will even listen to a long story if it appears to be going somewhere. With the longer time frame allowed a storyteller, more information can be delivered before an interruption. Ideas delivered in the form of abstract information will create thoughts and examples and counter-thoughts and counter-examples in the listener’s mind. They will then want to speak them out and will readily butt into an abstract statement. Whereas a story that seems to be going somewhere will not have a conclusion until the end, and so the listeners will tend to sit quietly and listen. Therefore, one should communicate abstract ideas by using stories and only at the end of the story have a memorable bon mot, a take home message, and an action which the listener can and will participate in after the conversation.
The story should begin with a positive description of the person who is soon to be confronted with a problem, so the hearer can easily identify with the person and understand their pain and their need to solve the coming problem.
This post is a good example of what not to do. It is an illustration of an abstract lecture instead of an attention-getting story. And Bertrand Russell said, “Power is the ability to produce the intended effects.” This post will fail to produce any intended effects because it will not garner any attention, and if one can not attract and maintain attention one should be doing something else. I get interrupted all the time because I speak in abstractions instead of telling stories.
