What Happened
Enrique Oliu has called Tampa Bay Rays baseball on the radio for thirty years without ever seeing a pitch, a swing, or a catch. He is blind. Yet his reputation as a broadcaster rests precisely on his ability to make listeners see the game through his words. That gap between what he perceives and what he communicates is not a limitation. It is his entire craft.
The Communication Angle
Here is the lesson: your words have to do all the work. Most people never learn this because they lean on visuals, body language, slides, and props to carry half the message. Oliu never had that option. Every description had to land on its own. That constraint made him exceptional.
Most communicators are lazy with language because they can afford to be. You gesture at a chart. You point to something behind you. You let the room fill in the gaps. Oliu proves that when you strip all of that away, precision becomes everything. He cannot wave vaguely at the outfield. He has to name what is happening, locate it, and time it, all in real time, all without hesitation.
This is sensory specificity, and it is the single most underused skill in professional communication. It means describing not just what happened, but where, how fast, how loud, and what it felt like. When Oliu says a ball was hit, you do not just know a ball was hit. You know the crack of the bat, the direction, the trajectory, and the outcome before the crowd finishes reacting. That is not talent alone. That is a disciplined practice of choosing the right word over the easy word, every single time.
Here is where this becomes practical for you. Think about your last presentation, your last client call, your last team meeting. How many times did you say "as you can see" or point to something without fully describing it? How many times did you use "this" or "that" without naming the thing? Those are the moments your audience disconnects. They are waiting for you to do the work, and you handed it back to them.
The fix is not complicated. Before you speak, ask yourself: if the person I am talking to could not see anything, would my words still be enough? If the answer is no, your language is not specific enough. Tighten it.
This is exactly the kind of scenario I break down in Say It Right Every Time. The chapter on sensory language gives you a framework for building descriptions that land whether your audience is in the room, on a phone call, or reading a transcript hours later. Most people treat word choice as a finishing touch. That chapter shows you it is actually the foundation.
Never Be Lost
for Words Again
Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.
Never Be Lost
for Words Again
Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.
Key Takeaway
Before your next presentation or important meeting, go through your talking points and remove every word that points to something rather than names it. Replace "this approach," "that option," and "as you can see" with exact descriptions. Do it once, out loud, as if your audience is listening in a dark room with no slides. You will immediately find three places where your message was relying on visuals to do your job for you.
