How Do You Stop Over-Explaining?

You know what you want to say. You can see the clear answer in your head. And then you open your mouth and something else comes out. More words than you needed. Softer than you meant. So buried in qualifiers that by the time you stop talking, even you aren't sure what you said. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox gives you the mantra, the practical tools and the one question most people skip that actually makes the difference. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few episodes ago Jack Fox promised to keep noticing the words being used around him and share what he found. This is that episode. An expert witness who paused for 17 seconds in open court and what that taught Jack about silence. A box of chocolate and the one word that told him everything he needed to know. Three practical tips for remembering names and why using them matters more than most people realise. And the reply that stopped a hostile online argument dead in its tracks. Four things Jack noticed. Four things you can use straight away. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week Jack Fox gave you three things that turn a conversation into an argument. This week, three more. The question that sounds like curiosity but is really a way of steering the conversation somewhere else. The hypothetical that takes you away from what's actually happening. And the everyone thinks so move that makes you feel outnumbered before you've said a word. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox shows you what each of these looks like, how to respond when someone does them to you, and how to make sure you're not using them yourself. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arguments rarely start with a raised voice. They start with a small move. A question that doesn't get answered. A point that gets taken somewhere it was never meant to go. The same thing said again and again as if repetition will make it land. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox uses a political interview clip to show exactly what those moves look like in a real conversation, and gives you the tools to recognise them, call them out, and make sure you're not using them yourself. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Fox has spent years studying how criminals and people under pressure use language. He teaches these lessons every week. And he gets them wrong too. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox shares four honest stories of trying to apply the tips from recent episodes in real conversations. What he attempted, what actually happened, and what he took from each one. Because the gap between knowing something and doing it is where most of the learning actually happens. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Fox has spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. Donald Miller has spent years studying the words of the most effective marketing messages in the world. They have never worked together. They have arrived at exactly the same conclusion. Simple, clear and repeatable beats clever, detailed and comprehensive every time. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox walks through where his research and Donald Miller's research meet, and then asks one question that most people have never thought about. Do you have clear, simple, repeatable words for yourself? Not your business. You. What you do. Who you are. What you are looking for. Because the people who are remembered are the ones whose words are easy enough to repeat. And being remembered is the first step to being trusted. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Fox has spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the most consistent things he has found is that the people who give themselves away do so because someone was truly listening to them. Not waiting for their turn to speak. Actually listening. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox makes the case that listening is the most underrated communication skill most people have. He looks at what happens in the brain when someone feels truly heard, what the research says about listening and trust, and what changes in your conversations when you stop forming your response before the other person has finished. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Fox posted something recently about convincing language. That the most powerful thing you can remove from your own words is the convincing. That when you stop trying to make people believe you, you become considerably more believable. Someone replied with this. I'm more aware that I have a habit of over-explaining. Now, how do I fix the last 49 years of doing it? That question stopped Jack Fox. Because it is the most honest version of something he hears all the time. This episode is his answer. Three things. Simple ones. The kind you can use in your next conversation. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And in all that time one of the most consistent things I've found is that the words someone chooses are the words that matter to them. Change those words and you've changed the meaning, at least in their head. In this episode of How Words Work, I look at two things that make the person you're talking to feel genuinely heard. Using their name. And using their words. Not a polished version of what they said. Not your interpretation of it. The actual words they chose. Because those words are how they see the thing. And when you use them back, it makes a difference.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the most revealing moments in any conversation isn't the answer someone gives. It's what happens in the seconds before. Do they let the question finish? Do they start with the answer or manage it first? Do they say I don't know when they don't know? Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6Get more from Jack at https://www.facebook.com/jackfoxnatw/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.