Great BA fallacies #2 - proof by verbosity

We've all been here: someone just talks and talks and uses more facts and figures than you can shake a stick at offering a wealth of supporting material (that you can't inspect during the 'discussion') - this is proof by verbosity otherwise known as "wearing down", "grinding in to submission" or "doorstep sales".

A favourite with politicians (of political parties or office politics). Also 'consultants' who wear red braces, draw lots of boxs with arrows on flip charts but don't actually write down anything that means anything. And lets not forget project sponsors!

What it relies on to succeed is the inability of the human brain to hold all the relevant facts in your head, correlate them and find the logical mistakes in the reasoning.

So, before considering how to survive this kind of onslaught, consider this: why did the person/people choose this method to 'prove' their position? One of 2 (or possibly both) reasons:
1. they have a scatter-gun mind and move off at random tangents anyway - that's what they are like
2. they are aware they have a weak case and are hoping to carry the day using voluminous distractions

So - how to survive? Firtsly and most importantly, remain focused on what questions you need answered and do not get distracted by all the information on offer.

If you have the time, let them finish every last drop of the verbal diarrhoea. Then ignore it all and refocus the conversation on what you were debating anyway - example: "That's interesting, but before coming on to your points can we just resolve this question...".

If you don't have the time, cut in with some stalling tactic like "You have some excellent points there but we need to resolve this question now and we only have half an hour so lets pick your points up off-line".

Of course, this is unlikely to work with someone senior to you. In this case, I try to show them the consequences of what position they want to take without considering their verbosity at all: "Ok, so we are going to complete the analysis of this project in 3 days - now you told me the scope is nationwide, so lets see...I need to visit 16 regional offices and pull together all the different requirements in 3 days - is that right?"

And one final point: of course they may be right or at least have some good points! Just because they are using this tactic does not mean they are wrong. Get all the information you can from them, pick up on the referenced material, review and consider it. You never know...and don't forget ABC of Great BA Fallacy #1: so you do want to check it out if you can!