Why don’t you just tell me the movie you want to see?

Today I thought I’d share a tip that can make your writing more effective — and a lot more painless.

When you’re trying to communicate an idea or make a point, do you ever struggle to express exactly what it is you’re trying to say? 

Often, especially in professional communications or thought-leadership type work, I see people make two critical mistakes:

The first: They overcomplicate and over-explain the message. They wind up packing in so many words, ideas, messaging, and worst of all, jargon. As a result, the message is muddy. 

The second: They talk around the issue. They avoid saying the thing that needs to be said, rely too heavily on euphemisms or metaphors, or simply avoid stating clearly what the problem or situation is.

If you think you might fall into either of these traps — or just find it challenging sometimes to get the “right” words out — here’s a fun heuristic to try, courtesy of Seinfeld.

(And yes, I *did* recently borrow a heuristic from another 90s show, when I referenced The Simpsons a few weeks ago, thank you for noticing. At least I learned something from all the TV I was apparently watching as a teenager!)

If you’re familiar with the show, you might recall a Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes over Movie-fone — an automated service delivering movie listings.

People continue to call into Movie-fone, expecting the automated service, and for some reason Kramer tries to pass himself off as an automated recording, even though he is actually responding to callers live and in real time. 

(I can’t remember the set-up but I’m sure it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.)

Here’s how the dialogue goes:

KRAMER: Hello and welcome to Movie fone. If you know the name of the movie you'd like to see, press one.

 GEORGE: Come on. Come on.

KRAMER: Using your touch-tone keypad, please enter the first three letters of the movie title, now.

(George presses 3 keys)

KRAMER: You've selected ... Agent Zero? If that's correct, press one.

 GEORGE: What?

 KRAMER: Ah, you've selected ... Brown-Eyed Girl? If this is correct, press one.

(George looks baffled)

KRAMER: Why don't you just tell me the name of the movie you've selected.

The whole situation is really silly but also genius, if you think about it. How many times in our life do we speak circuitously, robotically, trying to follow formulas or scripts rather than just asking for what we want or saying what we really mean?

I use this all the time in writing. Whenever I feel stuck I just repeat this heuristic to myself and write exactly what I want to say. I don’t try to make it smart or special or worry about what other people will think. I just write the damn thing.

And, I use this trick with clients all the time too. Under the guise of “just tell me what you want to say; we can write it differently,” they often wind up sharing the exact words and phrases needed to communicate the idea clearly.

Instead of overthinking, just be honest about what you want. Tell yourself what you actually mean. Tell others what you actually mean.

Clear out all the clutter. And tell the truth.