We have all heard “less is more,” but Albert Einstein took it a step further (and wiser) when he said, “If you can’t say it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

I take Einstein’s quotation to mean that brevity is not merely about cutting words. It means understanding your core message thoroughly enough to recognize what can be stripped away and what needs to be preserved.

The importance of brevity in leadership cannot be overstated (and, by definition communications should not be Overstated), especially when you consider an average audience’s attention span. I do not mean that to be spangaring

Consider an audience’s job versus a speaker’s job: A speaker’s job: Say something you have been thinking about and working on for days or weeks.

An audience’s job: Hear it for the first time, then digest it, process it, consider it, attach relevance to it, and perhaps write it down.

Given that enormous disparity in cognitive burdens, it’s critically important to be concise, which will give your team more time to process and record your points. It also demonstrates that you value their time.

FEW QUICK TIPS

1. Cut unnecessary words, especially useless and redundant adjectives.
2. Cut less crucial concepts so they do not compete for attention with your most relevant content.
3. In your writing, break paragraphs often, with no more than three sentences in each one. Use bullets when you have groups of ideas that require no elaboration.
4. Read your document aloud or have it read aloud to you to find new parts to tighten and cut.
5. In your presentations, slow down to give your mind time to be judicious with words. Slowing down will also give your audience more time to process what you are saying.

Think before you speak