How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Incompletion

Techniques > General persuasion > Creating Cognitive Load > Incompletion

Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

When you are talking to a person, if you leave something unsaid and unsure, they will keep guessing and sustain attention until you finish the story.

This works best when you stop just as you have built the tension to a maximum and they are strongly interested in hearing what happens next.

Example

This could net you up to a million. But more later. I need to check out a few things first.

I'm going to tell you about the money you can save, but in not going to say how. To know the next step, you'll want to come to our next seminar.  

Discussion

We all have a need for closure, where outstanding tension gaps are resolved. Until this happens, we are motivated to keep paying attention.

Stories make great use of incompleteness to keep readers on the edge of their seats and consequently to keep them reading, for example by ending a chapter with a mystery or with an exciting sequence about to begin.

See also

Completion principle