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Yada Yada Yada...
Every Tuesday, The Productive Disruptive delivers storytelling science, message makeovers, cultural commentary, and a little rebellious hope for anyone still stubborn enough to believe communication can change the world.
Dorian Johnson
August 26, 2025
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Like:
“We ran the campaign… yada yada yada… and now we’re seeing results.”
Or:
“She was upset about something I said… yada yada yada… we’re not speaking anymore.”
Uhh…
That’s not a story. That’s a jump cut.
Start → End
No middle. No tension. No context
In the iconic Seinfeld episode “The Yada Yada,” George’s girlfriend keeps skipping over the middle of her stories:
She shared, “My ex came over…”
The claim here is that she was trying to save time.
But she’s also skipping over exactly the part people want to hear.
You’ve felt this, and it sucks.
Someone’s telling a story, and you're leaning in, waiting for the juice, and suddenly…
Yada yada yada, that’s how I learned I was allergic to grass.
WAIT. WHAT. HAPPENED. HOW DID YOU LEARN THAT?
Those parts that get skipped? That’s the turn.
That’s where we learn. That’s where we connect.
And when it’s left out, we’re left like this
This happens far more often than it should.
People skip the soul.
They start with the setup, then jump to the result.
But they yada yada the realest part, the part that actually moves people.
Was there resistance?
Did someone change their mind?
Did you hit a wall, change direction, make a mess, get humbled, hear a voice you hadn’t considered?
That’s the meaning-making moment.
That’s the transformation that’s worth telling.
🧠 Story Science Side Note: Surprise, tension, and emotion are what make stories stick.
Surprise activates dopamine, fueling attention and memory.
Emotional stakes light up the amygdala and hippocampus.
Conflict and reappraisal help us reshape beliefs.
When you yada yada past the friction, you’re skipping the hook the brain was waiting to hang onto.
Don’t yada yada your way through the good part.
The art of storytelling isn’t just in the info, it’s in the arc.
Twists. Turns. Resistance. A-ha’s.
That’s what makes your message memorable and meaningful.
A summary informs.
A story transforms.
📝 Message Makeover:
Before:
We ran the campaign… yada yada yada… engagement went up!
After:
We ran the campaign, and it flopped, in fact, crickets.🙃
But we realized the message didn’t reflect the community’s values.
So we rewrote it with them. That’s when the comments, and the real engagement, started rolling in.
That’s some important yada yada, right?
🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:
Try The Yada Yada Test
Tell a story with just the beginning and end.
Version 1:
Start → yada yada → OutcomeNow tell it again—but don’t yada yada.
Version 2:
Start → Juicy Turn → Outcome
Now ask yourself:
What did you add in Version 2?
Why that detail?
How did it change the meaning—or the feeling?
This is the balance every communicator walks:
Too much detail? You lose the point.
Too little? You lose the person.
The sweet spot?
Just enough juice to build tension and deliver a turn.
“Insert dramatic exit here