One way sub-skill of being specific is learning to focus on details, instead of big picture.
For example, if a manager is vague they focus on the big picture and tell their employee “You need to stop arriving late.” If a manager is specific, they focus on details and tell their employee: “In the past week, you have been more than 15 minutes late two times. If you are running more than 10 minutes late you have to call. If you are more than 15 minutes late 3 times in a month, you will get written up, etc.”
I think a fun way to teach how to focus on details is to do a quick practice of cold reading.
First, you can look at the big picture (generalities), by looking at a persons general demographic, “middle aged female in a suit,” and list what you can guess about them, and how certain you are of that.
Next, look at the details. Since everyone will be new to this, give them a list of specific things to look for. If you are using pictures of people to read, or are using the instructors as examples, you can make sure that the list is tailored for your examples.
Example list: Wedding band, frays on clothes (especially on heels of jeans), hair and nail style (how much they care about looks), footwear (how practical? how expensive? how comfortable?), phone (watches can work too, but it’s harder to tell an expensive/cheap watch from an expensive/cheap phone), bearing/expression
Have them make a list of all the details that they can find about the subject. Next, have them update their guesses about that person, and their certainties. Discuss how the specific details can lead to either more specific conclusions, or more certainty.
“Well, at first I thought she was a business person, because she was wearing a suit. But then, when we looked at the specifics, I noticed that her phone and shoes were cheap, and she looked nervous. Now I think she is going to an interview or something.
I don’t know much about cold reading, but I have a friend who is a magician/”psychic”, and I can ask him for any interesting things to look for, if there’s interest.
I think people will remember this because a) it is fun, and b) it is a useful skill in itself .
Edit: You can also pair them up or put them in groups and have them cold read each other, but people would likely be uncomfortable with that (both possibly stating negative implications about a person (i.e. “well your hair is greasy, so...”) and being the subject of such scrutiny. But it could possibly work at a meetup where people already know each other, and are already a bit more rational. (People can declare Crocker’s Rules if they want.)
Edit 2: If you don’t want to look at people this way (ethical reasons, or just think it will make people uncomfortable), you can instead call the game “Be Sherlock”, and examine a scene the same way. (i.e. “Oh, there’s a lit cigarette, so someone was here recently. The TV is playing Sesame Street, so there was probably a kid here too. It’s an educational show, so the adult probably cares about the kid(s), etc.)
One way sub-skill of being specific is learning to focus on details, instead of big picture.
For example, if a manager is vague they focus on the big picture and tell their employee “You need to stop arriving late.”
If a manager is specific, they focus on details and tell their employee: “In the past week, you have been more than 15 minutes late two times. If you are running more than 10 minutes late you have to call. If you are more than 15 minutes late 3 times in a month, you will get written up, etc.”
I think a fun way to teach how to focus on details is to do a quick practice of cold reading.
First, you can look at the big picture (generalities), by looking at a persons general demographic, “middle aged female in a suit,” and list what you can guess about them, and how certain you are of that.
Next, look at the details. Since everyone will be new to this, give them a list of specific things to look for. If you are using pictures of people to read, or are using the instructors as examples, you can make sure that the list is tailored for your examples.
Example list: Wedding band, frays on clothes (especially on heels of jeans), hair and nail style (how much they care about looks), footwear (how practical? how expensive? how comfortable?), phone (watches can work too, but it’s harder to tell an expensive/cheap watch from an expensive/cheap phone), bearing/expression
Have them make a list of all the details that they can find about the subject. Next, have them update their guesses about that person, and their certainties. Discuss how the specific details can lead to either more specific conclusions, or more certainty.
“Well, at first I thought she was a business person, because she was wearing a suit. But then, when we looked at the specifics, I noticed that her phone and shoes were cheap, and she looked nervous. Now I think she is going to an interview or something.
I don’t know much about cold reading, but I have a friend who is a magician/”psychic”, and I can ask him for any interesting things to look for, if there’s interest.
I think people will remember this because a) it is fun, and b) it is a useful skill in itself .
Edit: You can also pair them up or put them in groups and have them cold read each other, but people would likely be uncomfortable with that (both possibly stating negative implications about a person (i.e. “well your hair is greasy, so...”) and being the subject of such scrutiny. But it could possibly work at a meetup where people already know each other, and are already a bit more rational. (People can declare Crocker’s Rules if they want.)
Edit 2: If you don’t want to look at people this way (ethical reasons, or just think it will make people uncomfortable), you can instead call the game “Be Sherlock”, and examine a scene the same way. (i.e. “Oh, there’s a lit cigarette, so someone was here recently. The TV is playing Sesame Street, so there was probably a kid here too. It’s an educational show, so the adult probably cares about the kid(s), etc.)