How many times have you seen someone's long-winded post on YouTube or Facebook get shut down by the four letter acronym "TL;DR" (Too Long; Didn't Read), only because they couldn't limit their rant to its most concise version.
TLDR, is a great comeback in online chatrooms and threads.
"Too long; didn't read?!?! But.. I put so much time and thought into this!! I must be heard!"
No, you won't.
The reason is because the writer, in this case, created a product that had too much cognitive overhead (how many logical connections or jumps your brain has to make in order to understand or contextualize the thing you’re looking at) for the reader to consume.
Conversely, the person that posted "TLDR" is so effective because he neutralizes the potency of the raving writer by remaining 100% ignorant to their efforts- he also stays aligned with his own critique by delivering his message succinctly. TLDR is a stinging rebuttal that delivers with minimal effort and maximum effectiveness.
Conversely, the person that posted "TLDR" is so effective because he neutralizes the potency of the raving writer by remaining 100% ignorant to their efforts- he also stays aligned with his own critique by delivering his message succinctly. TLDR is a stinging rebuttal that delivers with minimal effort and maximum effectiveness.
Parenthetically, TLDR might be a sign of our diminished leisure time, massive amounts of information continuously thrown our way, or maybe just our attention spans simply getting shorter.
In any case, Too Long; Didn't Read is a feeling we all get.
Its the recipe that calls for 2 hours of cooking and 25 ingredients, the iTunes contract that no one reads, the LinkedIn request from someone you don't know asking for something, the website with 100 buttons and links.
It is all too much a hassle. It is unwanted work. It is a barrier. So we skip or skim - and for good reason!
Your time is valuable.
The gains from saving our precious time very much outweighs the likelihood that something negatively affects us as a result of skimming or ignoring.
We are likely to skip or skim something, even when its important, because the task has too much cognitive overhead.
If the process of understanding becomes too difficult or complex, we are likely to reject it. Its the difference between Yahoo and Google. Microsoft and Apple.
Less is more.
Being too thoroughly informative from the start can create a mountain-like barrier between the information and its reader...Not only will they not read the whole thing, they won't want to. This applies to anything that displays some kind of cognitive overhead.
The problem with trying to explain EVERYTHING or showing too much of the work-to-be-done is that it discourages folks, and puts space between them and the tremendous value they could capture.
So the idea is that in communication, complexity = bad, and simplicity = good. So how do you make that oh-so-simple truth work for you?
In delivering a message the quicker you can make a meaningful connection, the better off you'll be. And for some reason, people over-complicate the process, making it look like WORK for the person they're reaching out to. So how do you make this EASY for them to want to help you?
Here are some tricks to capturing attention:
1) Leading with Value.
Often times there is a chasm between you or your idea the person whose attention you require. You need to fill that chasm so that the person can cross it to you, and vice versa. Trust is one way to bridge that gap, and a great way to engender trust is to lead with value. I learned this valuable lesson from my friend and self proclaimed life-long learner Scott Britton, who says,
"Leading with value is a signal that you are going to provide value to their life. It becomes an interchange vs. pure take interaction."
Offer them something, or even introduce them to someone or something that would interest them first, before offering what you want to convey.
I saw first hand that leading with value is incredibly effective and is something you can be very creative with. Just imagine handing someone a gift, and then asking them a question. Unless you are leading with value, you are probably as off-putting as one of those people with clipboards on the sidewalk asking for your pledge. Always lead with value if you can in any communicative scenerio - its the reason this posting's title is "how to get anyone to listen to you", not "cognitive overhead and their effect on jobs-to-be-done".
"Leading with value is a signal that you are going to provide value to their life. It becomes an interchange vs. pure take interaction."
Offer them something, or even introduce them to someone or something that would interest them first, before offering what you want to convey.
I saw first hand that leading with value is incredibly effective and is something you can be very creative with. Just imagine handing someone a gift, and then asking them a question. Unless you are leading with value, you are probably as off-putting as one of those people with clipboards on the sidewalk asking for your pledge. Always lead with value if you can in any communicative scenerio - its the reason this posting's title is "how to get anyone to listen to you", not "cognitive overhead and their effect on jobs-to-be-done".
2) Eliminate barriers.
Barriers = friction. A few small things can be enough for someone to not listen to your message. A barrier can be something as simple as a person having to dial your number, or even them having a thought that this will be work, or worse, a waste of time. Eliminate those. Anything that is a pain, get rid of it.
When someone sends me the name of a song I should look up, there is a 10% chnace I'll look it up...but if they send me the link to the youtube page with that song, I'll likely listen.
When someone sends me the name of a song I should look up, there is a 10% chnace I'll look it up...but if they send me the link to the youtube page with that song, I'll likely listen.
3) Keep your message simple, but meaningful.
It's much easier to say "software is eating the world", as Marc Andreessen famously put it, than to elaborate on every nuance of a coming technological singularity. We are often tempted to over-explain so that people understand.
If there are 5 important things you have to say, pick just one. Although YOU know that they are all very important, the listener doesn't care. Think of your ideas like meals, you can't serve the person your 5 best meals at once. Hook them with just one, and they'll be coming back for more.
If you absolutely must explain everything, make sure you take time after each major point to get their thoughts. This is like a drink of water during a marathon...people are dying to state their opinions (look at Twitter)...if you suppress that natural urge, they will likely shut off to what you have to say.
This last part is probably the hardest thing to do, but remember that you will have time only if you are willing to take time.
Hopefully you enjoyed this post on cognitive overhead and it wasn't so long that you didn't read it.
Quotes relating to this entry:
"Simplicity is the ultimate elegance" -Steve Jobs, Minimalist pioneer
"Several Excuses are always less convincing than one." -Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World and Doors of Perception
"Software is eating the world." -statement of simplicity by Marc Andreessen
"Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler" -Albert Einstein
Excuse any typos, as this was done in a rush and on my phone.
