The Benefits of Brevity
“I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”
- Mark Twain
Actually, this is going to be a short post. I am going to share six of my favorite quotations on the topic of “brevity” with you. I will make the briefest of comments after each.
Tell me what you think - in a few words, please!
1) The opening quote by Mark Twain.
- When writing an article or a speech, spend more time deciding what to take out than what to put in.
- Edit - mercilessly!
- Make you point, stick to it, support it and drive it home to your audience.
- Easier said than done!
2) “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” - Thomas Jefferson
- Edit - mercilessly!
- Use a two syllable word rather than one with three.
- History’s most memorable speeches use very few words:
- Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains only 271 words.
- John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech is only 674 words short!
3) “A speech should be as long as a piece of string - long enough to wrap up the package.” - Anonymous
- Enough said!
4) “Anybody can have ideas - the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.” - Mark Twain
- That is why I love and collect quotations.
- Edit - mercilessly!
5) “If you can’t state your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position.”- Seth Godin
- And your audience won’t remember what you said.
- And your audience won’t know what to do as a result.
6) “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt
- re: “Be seated.” Don’t talk yourself out of the sale!
OK - some tasty morsels to chew on.
Please share your favorite quotations with our readers. Just keep it short and to the point!
April 11th, 2008 at 8:33 am
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