It’s easy to make proclamations or promises about all the wonderful things you are going to do or problems you are going to fix, but it’s a lot harder to back that up.
I am reminded of a scene from The West Wing where fictional president Jed Bartlet challenges his debate partner: “Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They’re the tip of the sword. Here’s my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we gonna do it? Give me ten after that, I’ll drop out of the race right now.”
I think about the “ten-word” concept when I have ideas I want to pitch. It’s one of the reasons why putting something in writing makes a greater impact than just verbalizing an idea because putting something on paper forces you to consider those ten words and what comes next.
Listen for those second ten words. If you don’t hear them, it’s just bluster.
Source: The West Wing Game On, Season 4, Episode 6
