So here’s the scene. You’re talking with your boss. You fully intend to sound smart and worth the paycheck. One problem, the words are spilling out of your mouth and you realize you can’t get to the point. For some uncontrollable reason, you just keep talking on and on and on and on. You pray that a bolt of lighting comes out of the sky and saps you silent.

You’re experiencing “the blithering idiot babbles” also known as the “I can’t shut my mouth syndrome.” Don’t worry it’s a pretty common condition, most people have been afflicted at some point or another.

So what to do? Try this; Narrow what you’re talking about down to no more than two or three ideas.

Here’s how it might sound:

When responding to a question begin with: “I have two thoughts on that topic,”

When you called the meeting try starting off with: “Thanks for meeting with me; I wanted to go over three proposals.”

Keep your ideas organized and clean, and remember a good idea well communicated naturally leaves people wanting more.