Original source: https://seapointcenter.com/crisp-decisions/ Original Author: Dave Stachowiak Original content may be altered based on feedback and my experience using it.

How to be Consise

Context

Mark Twain received the following telegram from a publisher:

NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY TWO DAYS.

And famously replied…

NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS. CAN DO 30 PAGES 2 DAYS. NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES.

In his book Information Anxiety, Richard Saul Wurman states that a standard issue of the New York Times contains more information than a citizen of 17th England would have absorbed in their entire lifetime.

The problem?

• Many people will tune us out when we are not concise.
• People are often “unavailable” to people who can't be concise.
• Lots of people will stop seeking advice from someone who can't provide concise feeback.
• We lose credibility with most audiences if we can't communicate concisely.

What are the causes?

• For many engineers, their technical training works against them in consise communication.
• People believe (falsely) that credibility is gained by speaking longer. Not true…it's about quality, not quantity.
• The “PowerPoint culture” in many organizations has reinforced the myth that more information in slides is better when presentation information. Most of the time, it's not – less is more.
• Since making something concise takes time and investment, some of us simply just don't want to do it out of laziness…even when we know it would help the audience.
• Selfishness sometimes creeps in – we like to hear ourselves talk and we forget that our purpose is to add value for the audience, not to look good ourselves.

What are the solutions?

• Ask yourself if what you are about the communicate is really essential to the overall message?
• If you put yourself in the audience's shoes, would you really care about what it is you are about to say?
• Have someone you trust, who knows your audience, listen to what you are going to say before you get in front of your manager, a meeting, or a large presentation.
• Budget time to edit down what you are saying to make it more concise.

Suggestions for implementation:

• Have firm standards on your conciseness & delivery time frame and stick to them…
  • 40 minutes or less
  • 500 words or less
  • Organize content in the rule of 3, no more than 3 or 4 major points at any time.
• Join Toastmasters and get practice speaking concisely
• Attend the Dale Carnegie Course and learn and use many models to get ideas across quickly.

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