Hemanutical Support

I'm spending the next few days in the Liberty University library (boy have things changed around here) doing some graduate work. I couldn't help but to over hear the last few interactions between the gentleman behind the help desk and poor souls who asked for his wisdom. Because this gentleman is very wise (I heard him explaining that he's actually a programmer and former High School Principal) he tends to give far more information than the questioner asks.

One phone call I overheard (he speaks loudly) was a person asking a simple question about a database. The gentleman at this desk began to explain how columns work and what comes out of subsets of data. He began to go into formulas complete with real world examples. I could tell from his stuttering at points that there was a sense of frustration as he wanted to explain in more detail how the action takes place while the caller simply wanted an answer. The gentleman providing help kept going backwards and around in circles until the conversation had an abrupt ending.

A few minutes later I see this guy go up to the desk and ask about APA-citing of sources. Once again I overheard the history of APA and how they do not want to be sexist in their citings, etc. Obviously details that aren't very important for this guys question of how to cite two specific internet sources. I placed my headphones up to my ears and decided to quickly write this post. As I complete this paragraph the poor guy with the question is still up at the desk.

What did I learn? I learned that we should all read Andy Stanley's "Communicating for a Change". As speakers, we all have a tendency to try to expound too much on a topic. Yes much of the information is interesting and important but if we give people too much information, they won't know what to process so they will dump it all.

What is more important? Us giving out information or the listener receiving it?