I hate the snapping of approval that has become so popular these days.
I was telling a story on stage last week when a handful of people in the front row began snapping their approval to something I had said.
Please don’t.
If you want to respond positively to something I’ve said, applause works surprisingly well.
Laughter, if what I said was funny, would be lovely.
Smiling and nodding are terrific.
Even a well-timed hoot or cheer is acceptable.
None of this is necessary, of course, and even those things can be a little weird at times. I received a long applause break during a recent story — perhaps my longest ever — and while it was appreciated, it felt a little weird, standing there, waiting for people to stop applauding and screaming.
No complaints. Just a little weird.
But at least it was spontaneous and raucous and included most of the audience.
It was a collective, “Hell yes! Hell yes so hard that we can’t contain ourselves!”
But snapping?
No.
Snapping is a quieter, more deliberate way of saying, “Your words resonate with me, and therefore, you and I are aligned in thought.”
Ew.
A couple of months ago, I was speaking to half a dozen students following a performance. They had approached with a question, and as I was answering it, one of them began snapping in approval, then two others joined in. We were standing about two feet apart in a semi-circle, and in the midst of my answer, they just started snapping, as if to say:
“Yes, we agree with you. Groovy, man.”
You can also wait to agree with me. You can wait until I finish my sentence and then say something like, “Yes, I agree with you,” rather than inserting yourself into my answer with your finger snaps.
That one really annoyed me.
Imagine me telling my family a story about my school day over dinner. I’m explaining what I said to an administrator who has forgotten what it’s like to teach in a classroom — as so many have — and in the midst of my story, in response to something I’m saying, Elysha and Charlie start snapping their approval.
I’d throw my mashed potatoes at them and move out.
That’s what it was like when those students, in the midst of a conversation, started snapping.
It was so dumb.
I see snapping as unnecessarily performative. It represents an injection of self into someone else’s words. Rather than applying patience and turn-taking to the conversation, people snap, and while snapping isn’t loud, it’s still distracting and weird.
It’s attention-seeking.
It’s annoying.
I recommend avoiding it at all costs.
