Do You Speak in Ellipses? A Common GM Mistake (And How to Fix It)

Here’s a way to instantly improve communication at your game table and keep your players more engaged than ever.

There’s a common, often overlooked, communication habit that might be subtly sabotaging your sessions.

In today’s tip, I’ll share a powerful, easy-to-implement way to eliminate choppy descriptions and ensure seamless interaction.

Speaking in Ellipses…

I’ve noticed some GMs do not firmly end their descriptions and statements.

They just stop talking.

So listeners cannot tell if the GM’s done.

Then, when a player thinks the GM is finished and starts speaking, the GM begins talking again, revealing they had only paused in their thinking for a few moments.

Now players don’t know when the GM is truly finished speaking.

Do players stay quiet for a bit longer? Or risk interrupting?

The matter worsens if the GM talks over others when they resume, even if a player thought the GM was done and starts speaking themselves.

Communication becomes more difficult. It’s like a small delay over the airwaves, making talking disjointed and situations confusing.

Maybe we should start saying “over” whenever we’ve finished speaking, over.

Small Problems Become Big Ones

I’m not sure the root cause of this communication style.

In casual conversation, it’s generally not an issue. People can flex, handle being interrupted, and let the speaker finish their thoughts at their own pace.

A game environment is a bit different.

There’s constant back-and-forth between GM and players. Questions answered. Descriptions provided. Statements and lore given. Any communication friction becomes magnified in-game because of message frequency.

Without crisp transition between speakers, the frequent and often transactional communication nature of our game means any friction becomes greatly magnified.

So it’s important to be self-aware and self-correct if this is an issue at your table.

Play Hot Potato

I treat my descriptions and statements like a game of hot potato. Even as a player.

The GM holds all the secrets. So they get a lot of spotlight time answering player questions and narrating what’s going on.

I try to minimize the spotlight on myself when GMing because, by default, I take up a lot of it due to the GM’s roles as creator, narrator, and referee.

So I treat it like the game Hot Potato.

When the spotlight’s on me, I do my best as GM and storyteller communicator, but I also try to toss the spotlight back at the group as fast as possible.

End With a Question

The solution to speaking in ellipses that I’ve found works quite well is to end with a question.

A question signals I’m done talking.

A question prompts players to engage.

And a good question keeps game momentum moving forward.

My go-to question is: “What are you doing right now?”

This keeps players focused on the action and the current scene.

The question also gets players to speak up through the lens of their characters, ensuring gameplay focus.

Example

Here’s a true story. Names and words changed to protect the guilty. 🙂

Bad Johnn: The goblins look at you in surprise, not suspecting a home invasion at this time of day.

Bad Johnn: [Stops talking]

Krug: Excellent! Chopped liver coming up. Johnn, Krug charges forward and unsheathes his…

Bad Johnn: [Talking over Krug’s player] The goblins grab their weapons and brace for charge. The floor looks strange in the space between you and the creatures.

Bad Johnn: [Stops talking]

Krug: Whoa! I stop. There could be a trap here. Can I make a perception check on the floor?

Bad Johnn: [Talking over Krug’s player again] And one of the goblins grabs what looks like a wand from inside his clothing and waves at you Krug. Make a saving throw.

There’s a couple things to call out here in my example.

First, by pausing and resuming, you can see how Krug thought I was done and spoke up, and then how the whole description became broken and a bit chaotic to follow.

There’s goblins. A weird floor. A shaman. But is the barbarian attacking? Looking for traps? Making a saving throws? What’s actually going on?

Second, the other players haven’t been given a chance to act yet. This happens to me a lot as a player, it seems. Maybe it’s just me.

I wait until the GM is done speaking before declaring what my character is doing or asking follow up questions.

As GM, I often open the table up to who speaks up first acts first.

But in my example, you can see how the play advanced without other players having a chance to act. The barbarian announced a charge, a perception check, and then is called upon for a save.

Disjointed communication, and pauses mistaken for endings have jumbled play up a bit. This is why, in addition to ending with a question, I also find it helpful to establish a clear order of action, especially in combat or high-tension scenes.

Better Johnn: The goblins look at you in surprise, not suspecting a home invasion at this time of day. The goblins start grabbing for their weapons.
Krug, you are in front and a perceptive barbarian. Your intuition says something is weird about the floor between you and the creatures.

I’ll start with Krug and go around the table for reactions. Then we roll initiative. Krug, what are you doing right now?

Krug: Can I make a perception check on the floor?

Better Johnn: Yes, no problem. Krug is peering closely at the floor. Templeton, you’re next. What’s your immediate reaction – what are your doing right now?

And around the table we go. Tossing the potato back. Framing, clarifying, and being clear in indicating when I’m done and it’s the players’ turn.

Groups who’ve played a long time together have likely already figured out subtle cues and established a way of doing things, probably unconsciously. That’s great – the problem’s solved.

But for new groups, new players, new GMs, convention games, and other situations, aim for crisp comms. Toss the hot potato back fast. And end with a question as a clear spotlight hand-off.

Cheers,
Johnn
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