The Need To Be Brief

This orginally appeared on The Reslient Leader’s Podcast.

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TLDR.

Are you familiar with the acronym TLDR? It’s one that every leader needs to know about and needs to be deeply fearful of. Fearful? Yes, fearful.

TLDR stands for…. Too Long Didn’t Read.  

Have you ever gotten an email in your inbox and it was the size of a novel? And you thought, “I don’t have time to read this!”

TLDR.

Or have you gotten a report circulated around the office that is about 4 pages too long and thought, Are you kidding me?

TLDR.

Or are you on a mass email list where you get their emails and each one has too much text, images and content… and you felt overwhelmed so you just deleted it?

TLDR.

Have you ever heard your boss go on and on in a meeting for an hour when realistically it could have been 17 minutes?

Death by a thousand meetings.

TLDR.

 There is so much noise in our world. So much information. So many things and people grabbing for our attention. We are in a war of our attention right now.

My family lives two hours south of NYC and we like to visit on occasion. I remember visiting some friends who live in NYC and we walked through Times Square at night. And I found myself experiencing sensory overload. I just stood there completely still, unable to take it all in.

As leaders, sometimes we feel like we’re walking through our own Times Square of sensory overload from time to time. And many people report feeling this every single day.  

Maybe you’ve heard me say that I’ve never met a great leader who wasn’t also a great communicator. So, what do we do when we need to communicate in a world that is over saturated with information?

Let me cut to the chase: we need to be brief.

The people we lead are desperately longing for leaders to be clear, brief, engaging, and succinct. It was Mark Twain who quipped, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter so I wrote a long one.”

Why is being succinct so rare? Because it is hard work.

Giving a 12 minute presentation is more difficult than giving a 50 minute presentation.

Writing a four sentence email is more difficult than writing a four paragraph email.

Recording a 90 minute podcast episode is easier than recording a 9 minute episode.

Being brief, clear, and engaging is hard work.

But it’s what works.  

Several months ago I read a book called Brief: Making a Bigger Impact by Saying Less by Joseph McCormack. It’s a fantastic book.

The entire point of McCormack’s book is this: to help readers make what is complex clear.

 He writes that brevity is a choice: those who want to succeed and even thrive in an attention deficit economy must become masters of lean communication. Decide that being brief is your non-negotiable standard.

Today’s world is on information overload. You have to get to the point in five minutes, not 50. Always think about how to say more with less. 

An executive coach once said to me, “you would be hard-pressed to find a business person say at the end of the day, “I have some extra mental capacity to handle more.” You work around people who are mentally stretched

Your audience is drowning, and brevity is their lifeline.

 McCormack also writes that nearly 50% of meetings fail to use peoples time efficiently. We have twice as many meetings that are twice as long as would be necessary if they were properly designed and run.

So, let me ask you these questions:

1.    Can you hear an hour’s worth of complex information and summarize it in a two minute brief?

2.    Do you write emails that get to the point in five lines or less?

3.    Do your PowerPoint presentations contain fewer than 10 slides, with plenty of images and little text?

4.    Can you expertly deliver headlines like a reporter?

5.    Do you speak clearly and concisely in plain English rather than confusing corporate speech or jargon?

Here is an important rule of thumb: stop talking when you start enjoying what you’re saying.

The big bang of brevity: be disciplined, respectful, and well prepared, and the people you lead will thank you.

McCormack offers that we plan and prepare what we say before we say it. We need to map it out: working from an outline is always a good idea. There are five immediate benefits to outlining: prepared, organized, clear, contextual, and confident.

They provide a skeletal view that lets you think about your thinking. It takes time to be ready to say less.

He talks about creating a BRIEF map every time before you communicate:

·       B: background or beginning – what context do we need to give?

·       R: reason or relevance – why are we meeting anyway?

·       I: information for inclusion – what do people truly need to know here today?

·       E: ending or conclusion – what do I need to leave with people before I end?

·       F: follow-up. What are the questions I might expect to be asked when I am done?  

Brevity is about preparation and pre-assembly.

Imagine it is Christmas Eve. You bought your child a bicycle but you realize, oh no, I have to assemble it. Now imagine the relief you feel as you look at the box and see the words, “no assembly required.”

A brief map does the same thing you give a person a no assembly required message.

Does this take extra time, attention, and energy? Sure it does. But brevity is worth it!

Telling your audience a well-researched and well-structured story is more effective than just selling your point of view.

When I read a good story, it sticks with me. Yet how many companies, churches, businesses and community oriented groups tell a good story?

If you don’t get to the point, people will choose their smartphone over you. They do every day.

Have a plan before you speak, so everything is clear, concise, and to the point. People will notice your effort and love it.

Email:

·       compelling headline

·       purpose of email in the first sentence (or first paragraph)

·       5 sentences or less.

·       Always ask yourself before writing an email: what’s in it for the receiver? Why should he or she read this? Include the reason in the correspondence.

X (formerly known as Twitter):

·       the most effective social media posts are around 80 characters. They are twice as effective as those with 140 characters.

Meetings:

·       End meetings 5 to 15 minutes earlier than expected!

·       End your speech early and leave them wanting more.

·       Pastors, finish your sermon 10 minutes early and see how people respond!

Cut it in half. Whatever time you think you have, always take less. Busy people notice it when meetings finish early and you give them time back.

Leaders are communicators – and communicators are in the attention business. The one who holds people’s attention usually wins. Which is why brevity is so important. Its quality over quantity.

Leaders, we must be clear, concise, and compelling.

Streamline everything.

Cut to the chase, make every word tell.