9 ms·

I was taught basically this same method as the "Princess Bride" plan: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya (who I am) You killed my father (why I'm reaching out)

I was taught basically this same method as the "Princess Bride" plan: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya (who I am) You killed my father (why I'm reaching out) Prepare to die (my ask / expectation)

omginternets 4y ago
Ha! This is very good.
WalterBright 4y ago
Nobody cares who you are. The better approach is: 1. prepare to die (gets their attention) 2. because you killed my father (explanation) 3. I am Inigo Montoya (background info) Beware of things that "work" in movies. I've been led astray by that too many times. BTW, ever wonder why movies start out with an action sequence that often has little to do with the rest of the movie? It's to get your attention. Let's face it, you and I watch the first couple minutes of a movie to decide if we want to invest more time in it or click to the next Netflix movie. (Do we care who the director is? Nope.) Much in life works the same way.
- omginternets 4y ago
  I think you may be missing the point. It's a mnemonic, not a rationale.
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    Mnemonics almost always imply an order. My point is the order is backwards, even though people naturally assume that the first step is introducing oneself. They naturally assume that their name is the most important thing because it is the most important thing to them. But for other people, one's name is the least important thing, because of course what it most important to them is what affects them. Once one realizes this principle, you'll see it in action everywhere.
    - omginternets 4y ago
      Who is involved in what tends to be very high on the list of important parameters. To your point, though, you'd of course tailor this to your audience. For example: you might say "marketing" or "the engineering team" instead of "Tom, Dick and Harry".
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        If you're a celebrity your audience has heard of, yes. Otherwise, no.
      - bavila 4y ago
        Agreed. I think your counterpart is too focused on the person's _name_ rather than the contextual _role_ that the person occupies. If someone is coming to me with a question, it is extremely helpful to know up front who they are (with respect to their role, not so much their name) in order to immediately start narrowing down the relevant contextual parameters that will be framing my understanding of their problem and my response. I don't want to read a wall of text while thinking of how to respond from an engineering perspective, only to discover at the end that the person lacks technical aptitude.

I was taught basically this same method as the "Princess Bride" plan: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya (who I am) You killed my father (why I'm reaching out) Prepare to die (my ask / expectation)

omginternets 4y ago

Ha! This is very good.

WalterBright 4y ago

Nobody cares who you are. The better approach is: 1. prepare to die (gets their attention) 2. because you killed my father (explanation) 3. I am Inigo Montoya (background info) Beware of things that "work" in movies. I've been led astray by that too many times. BTW, ever wonder why movies start out with an action sequence that often has little to do with the rest of the movie? It's to get your attention. Let's face it, you and I watch the first couple minutes of a movie to decide if we want to invest more time in it or click to the next Netflix movie. (Do we care who the director is? Nope.) Much in life works the same way.

omginternets 4y ago
I think you may be missing the point. It's a mnemonic, not a rationale.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  Mnemonics almost always imply an order. My point is the order is backwards, even though people naturally assume that the first step is introducing oneself. They naturally assume that their name is the most important thing because it is the most important thing to them. But for other people, one's name is the least important thing, because of course what it most important to them is what affects them. Once one realizes this principle, you'll see it in action everywhere.
  - omginternets 4y ago
    Who is involved in what tends to be very high on the list of important parameters. To your point, though, you'd of course tailor this to your audience. For example: you might say "marketing" or "the engineering team" instead of "Tom, Dick and Harry".
    - WalterBright 4y ago
      If you're a celebrity your audience has heard of, yes. Otherwise, no.
    - bavila 4y ago
      Agreed. I think your counterpart is too focused on the person's _name_ rather than the contextual _role_ that the person occupies. If someone is coming to me with a question, it is extremely helpful to know up front who they are (with respect to their role, not so much their name) in order to immediately start narrowing down the relevant contextual parameters that will be framing my understanding of their problem and my response. I don't want to read a wall of text while thinking of how to respond from an engineering perspective, only to discover at the end that the person lacks technical aptitude.