Sometimes Less is More
By Sherry
@norcal (4889)
Franklinton, North Carolina
December 3, 2015 2:52pm CST
Have you ever been trapped in a classroom listening to a lecture that drones on for an hour and at the end of it you have no idea what the point was?
Whether you're a professor giving a lecture in school, a parent instructing your child, or an office worker consulting with a colleague, I believe you can communicate more effectively by using a narrative that is concise and to the point.
Certainly additional details can be important, but only if they serve to clarify or emphasize your main point. I think if you beat a subject to death the audience tends to lose interest.
To quote Einstein, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't know it well enough."
10 people like this
9 responses
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
4 Dec 15
LOL . . I remember when I was training to become as a life insurance leader back in the Philippines . . The trainor was trying hard to impress us by using deep English words instead of simple ones to explain and describe things. 
3 people like this
@norcal (4889)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
4 Dec 15
@antonbunot Well, he may talk plain, but he's just plain stupid! If you're an idiot, maybe it's better to muck it up a little bit. Sorry, I just can't stand that guy!
2 people like this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
4 Dec 15
Absolutely! I can only focus on a topic for no longer than 15minutes before my attention just wonders off.
2 people like this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
4 Dec 15
@norcal especially if I get the point they are making, sometimes it's like "skip to the end" plx :)
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
3 Dec 15
Yes, which is why I took online, write-in or one-on-one classes as often as I could in college. I didn't mind when the teacher answered questions, but most students didn't bother to read the text, so the teacher essentially had to go over everything that we were already supposed to have read. That was boring and pointless to me.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
3 Dec 15
@norcal At a college level, everybody should be able to read and understand most of what is in the text. The classroom really should only be for reinforcing the information and clearing up any misunderstandings or vagueness that the text might have.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Dec 15
I think I'm pretty good about that. I try not to drone on. And I try to get my students into groups after about 25 min of lecture so they can discuss what I just talked about. Repeat as necessary. Did you recently experience a drone from heck lecture? Or Powerpoint heck?
2 people like this
@norcal (4889)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
3 Dec 15
It has been quite a while since I have experienced a lecture in a classroom. Back in my day, lectures were delivered in person. I have no objection to them, as long as they move along enough to keep my interest.
I have attended a few business meetings where I was at a loss what the point was. Also, a few people in my life seem to use several paragraphs where one well chosen sentence would do.
2 people like this
@birjudanak (14316)
• India
4 Dec 15
its happened so many times because same topic someone explain with very easy method and in short time but some take more time but complicated method so we dont know what they said,so later we avoid to attain their lecture.
1 person likes this
@birjudanak (14316)
• India
4 Dec 15
@norcal yes if we say them to explain by other example then they said its not in book so you cant do that.
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Dec 15
Another good quote from Einstein. Some teachers have trouble keeping a class's attention. And at a conference it is easy to wander off listening to an uninteresting lecturer.
