24 - Specificity is generosity: Respecting your audience's time
The Credibility Minute · Jen deHaan
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Show Notes
In improv comedy, the first thing you say in a scene is called an "initiation." A good initiation contains a gift—specific information that gives your partner something to work with. Vague openings like "Hi, how are you?" force your partner to do all the heavy lifting.
The same principle applies to podcasting. Opening an episode with "So, today I want to talk about..." forces your listener to wait while you figure out your point. Specificity is generous. When you start with a specific client question, a metric, or a concrete moment, you give the listener an immediate reason to care.
In this micro-episode:
- The concept of "The Gift" in improv and how it applies to business content
- Why vague introductions increase cognitive load for your audience
- How to test if your opening sentence is specific enough to hook a listener
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