Brevity Makes your Message Stick

Brevity Makes Your Message Stick

To influence listeners, your message must make an impact on those who hear it. Brevity is the skill required to convey your message in as few words as possible. It communicates your main idea quickly, but it doesn’t come naturally. It requires planning and discipline.

Most professionals believe the more they say, the smarter they sound; but over-explanation dilutes your message, creating noise and clutter that is harder to understand and even harder to remember.

If you want to influence others to act on what you have to say, use the A-B-Cs of communicating with brevity.

1. Aim

Before your next conversation, visualize the bullseye of a target. That is where your message must land.

As you prepare for your next conversation, write down the single most important message you want listeners to remember from their time with you. That message is what you’ll aim to convey.

Next, write down no more than three support statements that target your listener’s focus, reinforcing your main message.

2. Begin

Begin your conversations by conveying the main message first. Leading with your main message provides listeners a laser-like focus on what you want them to know.

Second, communicate the support statements that reinforce your message.  Pause throughout your message to make sure you’re resonating with your listeners.

3. Conclude

Conclude your message by restating your main point, reinforcing what you want your listeners to remember from your time together.

If you want listeners to remember and act on what you have to say, speak with brevity. It requires preparation and focus.  Pausing allows you to consistently focus on what you need to say to influence action and to give your listeners time to follow your message every step of the way.

Podcast: Thrive

Check out our Research on Influence in conjunction with the University of Northern Colorado HERE.

Influence Research