Information Dumping: What It Is and How to Avoid It

I used to have this biology teacher who was in her 60s.

Her name was Ms. Grushoff.

Whenever her class would begin, she would turn off the lights and turn on the PowerPoint.

She would drag her 3-legged stool in front of the class, plop her fatass on the stool, then she would read off the slides…. word for word.

I tried to stay up.

I really did.

But I couldn’t manage….

Each biology class ended with me sleeping away.

Ms. Grushoff would scold me for not paying attention.

In her world, I was the enemy.

I was not able to stand her boring lectures.

In my world, she was the enemy.

What is Information Dumping?

Information dumping is when you pour an excessive amount of information on the recipient.

Have you ever had a moment when someone was telling you a story for a long time…

After 11 minutes, you still had no clue what the hell the story was about.

They gave too many details.

Details are a polarized topic in the communications world.

Details are needed to allow for a strong understanding of a topic, but when you are overly detailed, you venture into the information-dumping territory.

The reason Ms. Grushoff was boring was because she wouldn’t explain the context of the details.

She was too busy reading off her slides.

One day, Ms. Grushoff pulled me to her office and asked:

‘Armani, do you know how long it takes me to make these slides?’

I had no clue.

So, I shook my head.

‘It takes me 8 hours to construct these slides. I spend my entire weekend creating these presentations. And here you are, napping through them.’

8 HOURS??

Are you kidding me?

I felt bad.

From here on out, I was going to stay up in the lectures because Ms. Grushoff gave up her weekends for me.

Would I be successful?

Nah… I fell asleep again.

I couldn’t combat my drowsiness when she information dumped.

Pros of Information Dumping

Being able to information dump as a content creator is a good thing.

That means you know a lot about the topic.

I have a rule when I write blogs, make YouTube videos, or record podcasts:

• If I can’t ramble on it, then I won’t create content on it.

Because if I can’t ramble on it, then I don’t know enough about the topic.

It’ll be an effort to get my words out.

When I know enough to ramble, the words just flow out.

Obviously, I’m not going to ramble, but being ABLE to is a green flag.

Ms. Grushoff had a talent because she was capable of information dumping about biology.

She knew a lot about the field.

Information dumping is perfectly fine BEHIND the scenes.

It only becomes a problem when you bring it center stage.

How to Stop Information Dumping

The average human cannot focus for more than 7 seconds.

Here’s a public speaking hack:

‘Assume your audience is dumb as shit.’

This may seem mean, but it’s not.

This hack allows you to get to the point much faster!!

Behind the scenes, you information dumped.

You proved that you know a lot about the topic.

But before you take that dump to the audience, ask the question:

‘What does the audience REALLY need to know?’

Don’t ask:

‘What does the audience really need to know?’

Capitalize the “REALLY.”

This forces you to eliminate a bunch of information to bring forth a narrative.

If you created 15 minutes’ worth of slides, and you ask:

‘What does the audience REALLY need to know?’

Do not be surprised if the slides reduce to 7 minutes.

Compact messages are valuable to the masses who can barely concentrate.

A HACK to Avoid Information Dumping

Here’s a tip I’ll give you for reading books:

• Get as much context as you can about the book before you begin reading it.

Read the summary on the back of the book.

Read the table of contents.

And read a couple of reviews of the book on Amazon.

Once you have fed your mind the gist of what the book is about, you’ll breeze through it.

We can apply a similar philosophy to our presentations.

Before you read off your slides, share a tiny story that contextualizes the information to the audience.

Share a story on how your presentation relates to them.

Give them one of those back-of-the-book summaries.

Sharing a story on how your topic relates to the audience is foreplay while presenting the lecture is sex.

If Ms. Grushoff could have shared a story about why learning biology would benefit my life, then I’m sure I wouldn’t have been sleeping in her lectures.

‘Armani, how the hell is Ms. Grushoff going to do that?? No one wants to learn about biology!’

Incorrect.

Ever since I hit my 30s, I have been very curious about the subjects I learned in high school.

Biology, psychology, history, social studies, etc.

As a 31-year-old, I accumulated more real-world experience and became curious about my old-school curriculum.

Ms. Grushoff already had the real-world experience.

Therefore, she definitely had the potential to make biology relatable to a typical high schooler.

Before trying to have sex with the audience, give them some foreplay.

Make the information relevant to their lives.

Having Your Message Pack a Punch

Trim down the message bud.

It’s great that you can information dump.

That means you know the topic.

But before you deliver the topic to the audience, ask:

‘What does the audience REALLY need to know?’

This question allows you to trim down the presentation.

You are exiting the information-dumping territory.

Before you deliver that trimmed-down presentation to the audience, hit them with some foreplay.

Share a story about how this presentation relates to their lives.

Contextualize the information.

Got the foreplay over with?

Great.

Now dive in bud!!

For more storytelling strategies, be sure to check out my book, The Art & Science of Storytelling:

✨Ebook

✨Paperback/Kindle

✨Audiobook