Short as Possible

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” – various people.

Shorter is better. Stand-up comics try to make their jokes as concise as possible because it always improves them.

How short can you make your message? Look at your email, presentation or phone call, and consider these:

1. What’s the course of action that you want the audience/recipient to take? Make everything reinforce that.
2. Could you deliver this message and information verbally with no supporting materials/technology? Try it and see what happens.
3. Can you get the main point across in 10 seconds? Iterate until you can do it. Then try 5 seconds.

Apply all of these exercises, they’ll hone your skills. Remember, delivering something so short that it could be seen as incomplete means it’ll lead to a conversation, the best form of communication that there is.

Make it easier for your audience to take in and for you to remember: keep it short and simple.

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Short and Sweet