Saying more does not automatically make something clearer.

GRATITUDE

WHAT THIS MEANS

Adding words often obscures rather than clarifies. Explanation piles up, qualifications multiply, and the listener is left with more material and less understanding, particularly when the extra words are being generated by your discomfort rather than by their confusion.

When you notice yourself elaborating, stop and ask whether they have understood or whether you are just uneasy. Say the shorter version and leave a silence. If they need more, they will ask, and the answer you give then will be aimed at the actual gap rather than at whatever you were feeling.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Where do you over-explain when a short answer would serve better?

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