Telegraphing, in the creation or performance of creative works, is the undercutting of suspense
as by advance disclosure or extreme hinting of an element in a composition, narrative plot, or recitation. A familiar example is stand-up comic

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 "telegraphing" the punch line

Punch line

A punch line is the final part of a joke, comedy sketch, or profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny or to provoke laughter or thought from listeners...

 of a joke

Joke

A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...

.

In music and the visual arts, such techniques are respected as means of preparing the audience by "building up" to the foreseeable result, as musical overture

Overture

Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...

s usually do. In literature telegraphing is generally seen as lessening the final effect by approaching it too gradually, and thus as a failure of literary technique.