Get To The Point

When asked how long he spent preparing for a speech, Theodore Roosevelt once replied: “For a five minute speech, I need at least two weeks. For a ten minute speech, I need a week. For an hour-long speech, I’m ready now.” While this may seem counter-intuitive, Roosevelt was making the point that one of the most difficult parts of communication is condensing one’s message.

Most of us don’t have the Bull Moose’s talent in communication, but many of us struggle with the same challenge. We often become attached to our words, and find it difficult to identify the most important parts and eliminate the fluff. I find this is especially true in my written communications. For school assignments, my problem is usually writing too much rather than not enough. I promise myself that I will limit my blog entries to 300-400 words, but I usually exceed this self-imposed limit and have to cut my entries down. Twitter makes this even more challenging; I find it extremely frustrating to condense a complex thought to 140 characters.

For blog entries or emails, I’ve found that one good way to eliminate fluff is to write my main idea as though it were a Twitter update (i.e. no more than 140 characters), then go through my document and eliminate things that don’t fit with this main idea. While this may sound overly simplistic – and in some cases it is – it helps me stay focused on the topic. I wouldn’t recommend relying solely on this method to condense a school assignment, but I’ve found I can often cut 10-20% of my text using this method.

Another effective technique is to have someone else look over your paper. I find that it is usually easier for someone else to spot the unnecessary points in my writing, because they aren’t as emotionally invested in what I’ve written as I am. Similarly, I find it much easier to help others eliminate the fluff from their papers than to eliminate it from my own.

We’d be glad to help you with this at the Center for Business Communications. Come see us some time.

-Jon