What’s a descriptive term for someone who talks and talks, without saying anything significant, but who has the talent and skill to make you think that if you keep listening, you’ll learn something profound?
Acc, to R’ A.I.
A term that fits this description is “glib”. A glib person is often smooth-talking and persuasive, but their words lack depth and substance. They have a knack for making their speech sound impressive, even if it doesn’t convey much meaningful information.
I’ve had that experience with more than one therapist. In that field it’s about finding the right therapist / client “shidduch” otherwise it could be frustrating like you’re saying …
ChaGPT: A good term for this might be blatherskite—someone who talks at length without making much sense but with a smooth and convincing manner. Another term could be sophist, which refers to a person who uses clever but misleading arguments, making it seem like their words hold deep wisdom. You might also describe this person as being verbose or circumlocutory, implying that they use many words without delivering much substance.
Bloviation is a style of empty, pompous, political speech that originated in Ohio and was most notably used in his successful 1920 US presidential campaign by Warren G. Harding. He subsequently described it as “the art of speaking for as long as the occasion warrants, and saying nothing”. His opponent, William Gibbs McAdoo, compared it to “an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea.”