Less is More

One of the most difficult aspects of writing for me is keeping my words concise and to-the-point, yet still meaningful and engaging. As someone who tends to be very detail-oriented and who often prefers to express my thoughts in writing, I have been guilty of writing essay-like emails, texting entire paragraphs, and giving long-winded explanations on simple topics. In fact, sometimes I spend more time trying to trim down my words rather than on the actual content itself. Over the years, however, I’ve realized how important it is to be able to communicate thoughts quickly and effectively. The ability to be concise has become an increasingly crucial skill not only in the workplace, but in almost all day-to-day interactions.  Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way:

Use shorter sentences

Throughout high school and college, we were frequently asked to read classic works of literature, which often contained long, complex sentences with fancy vocabulary and metaphors woven throughout. In everyday communications, however, this is usually not necessary. Using simple, straightforward sentences as much as possible will help your audience understand your point more easily and save both sides loads of time.

Eliminate unnecessary words

Lately, I have been preparing a massive number of PowerPoint presentations for client meetings. One of the trickiest parts to building a presentation is writing the headers for each slide. The header is supposed to be a one-sentence summary of the main message on the slide, and I have spent many late nights wording and re-wording my headers in order to get them to fit inside the limited space at the top of each slide. Through this exercise, I’ve found that unnecessary or redundant words often make their way into sentences. Sometimes, it is helpful to go through each word in a sentence and ask yourself, “Will the meaning stay the same if I remove this word?”. If the answer is yes, it is probably safe to cut it out.

Use pictures or diagrams

Often a picture really is worth a thousand words, and it may be much more effective to show an illustration rather than try to explain something with words. One example of this is when I have to explain a complicated schematic or give step-by-step instructions via email. I’ve found that a particularly useful program in Windows 7 is the Snipping Tool, which allows you to easily take a snapshot of anything on your screen. Instead of spending time struggling over choosing the most precise words, I will simply take a snapshot, circle or draw arrows pointing to the relevant parts, and write a few short bullet points referring to the picture.