I am going to just leave this here for you…

Let me just leave this right here. This thought, this feeling for you to ______.

Sometimes we don’t have to fill in the blank. Sometimes the drama is in what we don’t say or do. This is a great strategy to make an impact but takes practice. Just saying enough, not giving it all up and leaving it is an art form.

I was reminded of the impact of this idea upon reading a blog called “Six Word Stories”. Reading the first one, six words, left me saying “wow”. The impact of those six words hit me like a freight train, just as the author intended.

We don’t owe the entire story or explanation. We owe enough to create the thought or understanding and then leave the rest, the remaining work to the audience. Thinking through this it works personally and professionally.

Professionally it is about only speaking when you have something of value to add and then leaving the rest for the audience to pontificate. Offering a “what if” scenario to change the paradigm but then allowing the audience to determine the various outcomes. You don’t have to give the “what if” and the effect. It will take away from the power of your “what if”.

Personally it’s about not solving for all. “You hurt me” are three powerful words that don’t require another thing to be said. I don’t need to tell you when, the fact that you hurt me is now yours to own. Think of how we use “I love you”. We do not have to say “because” or “when” just the fact that “I love you” is enough. It’s more powerful when it is not defined because it suggests that there doesn’t have to be a reason. In the first example it is much the same; “you hurt me” is enough. The fact that you do…is enough.

The next time you find yourself searching for the words, stop. Maybe you have said all you need to say. Just leave it, leave it right there for the audience to pick-up and do with it what they want. Once you put it out there it is no longer yours and only yours, it now as ownership that spans beyond you. Let it be. L.