“Melissa pointed out that putting soda in a can is not atomic science. What kind of customer needs technical help to get their product into a can?” My question only evokes blank looks. I have lectured on how to tackle seemingly formless questions like this. The first trick is to replace general nouns with specific examples. I wait a moment, and then I do it for them, a concrete example of replacing the abstract with the concrete. “What about Coors, does it need technical assistance from can companies?” The trick works—hands are up.
