Imagining

Teddy Bear Tech Support can be particularly helpful to talkers because they are getting some of the benefits of engaging with someone else and yet are still able to keep some of the benefits of working as if they were by themselves.

Because the teddy bear is saying less, you have more freedom to take things where you want them to go. You also have the benefit that things can take less time because the teddy bear is saying less and you're having to respond to less. Yet, you can still benefit from the person's "participation" because you can imagine what's going on for them (instead of them telling you what's going on for them).

• In fact, you're likely to be automatically imagining the following:
  • What might the other person be paying attention to
  • What are they expecting to hear you say
  • What might be going on in their head to help them make sense of each new piece of information that you're giving them
• You don't need to respond to the information because it's not being presented to you by the other person sharing it.
• It doesn't take the time it would take for them to tell you about these things or for you to respond to these things, and it doesn't take the managing of social dynamics to handle these things.
• What you imagine doesn't have to match what's going on in the teddy bear's head.
  • It's not about that. It's about your experience as the talker and what the imagining of these things does for you in terms of what you're then saying or thinking.

Without their having to say anything and without your having to respond to anything, you've been able to benefit from their presence and attention. Sometimes you may even feel more of their presence and attention and the benefits when they have said less.