Less Is More: Improving Communication Through Brevity

Let's keep it brief: effective communication demands brevity. That takes effort and training. Unless you are Spartan, of course. Nowhere is brevity more exemplified than in the story of Spartans and Philip II of Macedon (382 – 336 BC), father of Alexander the Great. When Philip II of Macedon threatened Spartans with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground." The Spartans replied: "If." The frugality with words was common in Sparta, the capital of Laconia. The adjective “laconic” comes from this attitude.

Lesson — Go straight to the point and stay there.

Resource [Book] — We are not Spartans. Brevity, for us mere mortals, comes from training. The best resource to improve brevity in our communication is the following:

• Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz — If you want to work on brevity, this is the book. The principle of Smart Brevity is simple: Less is better. The authors provide tools on how to say more with less in various formats. Some of the principles they encourage include: be frugal with words. Keep it simple -- and short. Stay short, not shallow. Be simple, clear, and direct. Favorite quote: “Destroy anything that distracts from the essential points.”