Tag Archives: sustaining knowledge

Short and Sweet

When communicating with others there is a lot of good things to be said about being brief but still complete, accurate and to the point. 

Over many years of practicing both written and verbal communication to small, medium and large audiences, I learned from feedback, short and sweet was best. 

Retention

If your intent is to for the audience to absorb the messages short and sweet is the way to go.  I have often heard other describe how a long monologue or book length explanation is needed. 

My response, as cynical as it may sound, is always, “Why to bother, most of your content will be wasted effort.”  Experience has made it clear to me, length rarely, probably never, adds clarity. 

Motivation

Length also is a great motivator to incent the reader to procrastinate.  How often have you followed up on a message you left and been told: “Saw it but didn’t have a chance to read or listen yet.”

Basically,  the message to you (which is short and sweet) translates to: “Your massive input is a bit overwhelming, I know I have to get to it but hopefully later rather than sooner.”  

Call to Action

 Every communication should have a purpose.  Broadly you can think of this as a call to action.  That is, what do you want the recipients to do.  This could range from do nothing beyond increasing knowledge and awareness, to a very specific measurable activity (e.g., buy the car).

Whether the call to action is physical and measurable or just an increased awareness understanding your intent and how you will confirm it was achieved are all part and parcel of the short and sweet communication strategy. 

Ultimately, over time, it is likely you will find much more success achieving your call to action when practicing short and sweet, than otherwise.