Monday, May 20, 2024

Stop "unpacking" and start thinking about what you say: WW11

What does "unpacking" mean? And why should you avoid saying this silly phrase? Think before you speak if you want to be taken seriously as a business leader or a thought leader. ----- Weeds Words is a series of rants about silly word and phrases that people say, probably without thinking. These videos might convince you to think about what you say and how that might be received - even if you didn't mean it that way. I'm George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives and Founder of Superior Presentations. I help business leaders deliver the intended message for greater success. https://www.speechcoachforexecutives.... ----- Guess what I’m doing? I’m unpacking. Unpacking my suitcase. I’m unpacking it now because I packed it before I left home l. And when I get home, I’ll unpack it again because I’ll pack before I leave. First you pack, then you unpack. You can’t unpack what hasn’t been packed. Which is the critical job? If you have traveled, you know that Packing is more important. Why does it get packed? To make it easier to go on a journey. We don’t pack to complicate or confuse. Therefore, you don’t unpack to simplify or clarify. An experienced traveller packs to make it easy to unpack. Packing takes more thought. Unpacking is not a big challenge. Unpacking is not impressive, Nor does it require a team effort. When a person says, Let’s unpack this – what are they trying to say? Some questions that come to mind are Who packed it? Why do you need help to unpack? If it was packed correctly, you don’t need my help. And if it wasn’t packed, why do you believe it needs unpacking? When you say unpacking, what do you mean? Do you know what you mean? If you are playing football against the Green Bay Packers does that mean you are unpacking them? When you said unpack did you mean Let’s study Let’s analyze Let’s decipher Let’s understand Let’s clarify Then say what you mean. You don’t need to unpack this message because it was never packed. You can’t unpack what hasn’t been packed. Instead, study, analyze, prioritize, simplify. -----