Dare to be dull

In his book Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You’re Put on the Spot, Matt Abrahams reveals a surprisingly powerful tactic for communicating thoughtfully and originally: dare to be dull.

Abrahams writes, “…the more we can dare to be dull, the greater the chances we’ll be anything but dull — because we will be communicating using our full cognitive resources.”

What ends up happening when we try to be original according to improvisation expert Dan Klein, who Abrahams also cites in his book, is “‘you sound like everyone else trying to be original. But when you’re obvious, you’re yourself. And that’s what’s genuine.’”

In other words, the less time you obsess over trying to drop a bombshell of wisdom with every breath, the more likely you are to actually communicate genuinely and thoughtfully.

Not everything you say has to be brilliant.

Ironically, the moment you are able to fully accept this, the more likely you are to be able to offer interesting perspectives.