5 ms·

Anyone who has read any of my posts here knows that I suffer from an inability to speak concisely. I feel I have a talent for being able to get my message acro

Anyone who has read any of my posts here knows that I suffer from an inability to speak concisely. I feel I have a talent for being able to get my message across clearly and this has helped me a lot at work. However, I have trouble keeping the message size small enough so that most people will read to the end. Does anyone have any advice for improving on this front?

stctw 7y ago
Rephrase, simplify, eliminate. For example, your comment could be written as: > Frequent readers here know I write verbosely. I communicate clearly, but few people finish reading my messages. Any advice? William Zinsser's book, On Writing Well, covers this topic. I recommend it.
rhymenoceros 7y ago
Judicious editing. I think the Blaise Pascal quote about not having the time is relevant; making things concise takes more effort, particularly if you are not already in the habit of doing so already. Start with your communication, remove redundant or unnecessary words, then think about ways to compact things down even further by removing or rephrasing sentences. Going through "Elements of Style" by Strunk & White wouldn't hurt too.
- sleepychu 7y ago
  > remove redundant or unnecessary words Made me chuckle.
  - rhymenoceros 7y ago
    Hah! Both words have (slightly) different meanings, but yeah, I ironically didn't follow my own advice :-)
webignition 7y ago
I think your message asking for such advice is itself of a suitable length where the problem is clearly stated without deviation or distraction. Taking your message on it's own, you have the ability to keep the message size small. Keep to the point, avoid distraction, stay focused, replace three words with two where two will suffice, replace two words with one where fitting. Omit needless words, make each word count.
probablypower 7y ago
It is likely that you provide more context than necessary. For example, you could've asked: "My emails tend to be too long. Does anyone have tips on writing concise emails?" Obviously your post was not an email, so the additional, narrative context you provided is welcome. In emails you should aim to provide just the key info, and to elaborate on any context in other forms of communication/documentation. I typically try to aim for just 2 lines of content. One is a statement of fact or a problem, the other is a question or a 'call to action'. I break this rule often, but I always pause to think if there is really a good reason to stray from that rule or if I'm just ranting/chatting. Often if people want context they'll come find you or call you.
__jf__ 7y ago
Yes, write short. This is the title of one of the chapters in “Writing without bullshit”, hilariously followed by the first paragraph: “Use fewer words”. Other tips from the book: * Edit everything * Aim for a word count * Say what you really mean * Start boldly * Organize relentlessly * Prune sections and arguments * Use bullets or tables * Use graphics * Trim connective tissue * Delete weasel-words and qualifiers
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  William Strunk would shout to his class: "Omit needless words! Omit needless words! Omit needless words!" https://www.brusselslegal.com/article/display/2563/Tip_2_Omit_needless_words https://www.brusselslegal.com/article/display/2563/Tip_2_Omi... https://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#13 https://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#13
  - jaclaz 7y ago
    Umberto Eco would have added ;-): 13. Don't be repetitious; don't repeat the same thing twice; repeating is superfluous (redundancy means the useless explanation of something the reader has already understood). http://gioclairval.blogspot.com/2010/02/umberto-ecos-rules-for-writing-well.html http://gioclairval.blogspot.com/2010/02/umberto-ecos-rules-f...
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
amelius 7y ago
Perhaps use an email client that has a Twitter-like limit on message length :)
splittingTimes 7y ago
Additionally to the tips from the story, this guide might further help you to focus the content of your mails and the delivery of the important message. It certainly help me. https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-precision https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-pre...
fanf2 7y ago
Put all the important points right at the start: bottom line up front “bluf”. Explicitly mark the point where your message becomes background detail, so people can stop reading there.
ysavir 7y ago
* Practice writing more concise emails. Especially if it's an email you already sent out. Ask yourself if the email had the intended effect, and what changes you could have made to better reach/improve that effect. * Look at the emails you receive that you feel do a good job of being concise. What do they have in common? What do you do differently from those emails? Start applying those differences when you write emails. * Look at the emails you receive that you feel don't do a good job of being concise, or are confusing otherwise (perhaps they're too concise). Open the email in an editor and make changes until you eliminate the problem areas. Can you make similar changes in your own emails? As a more concrete example, I originally had this text in the above paragraph: > Open the email in an editor and make the changes you would want to see until you see the email you wished you received I then revised it to: > Open the email in an editor and make changes until you eliminate the problem areas. In this and other cases, messages can be improved with better handling of the sentence's subject(s), tense, etc.
magicalhippo 7y ago
My approach: When reading what you've written, find the core of what you're really trying to say. Find the sentence or couple of sentences that conveys this core. Then see if the other sentences are really needed, removing those that aren't, tweaking the core as you go along. Repeat until you feel it can no longer be distilled further.

stctw 7y ago

Rephrase, simplify, eliminate. For example, your comment could be written as: > Frequent readers here know I write verbosely. I communicate clearly, but few people finish reading my messages. Any advice? William Zinsser's book, On Writing Well, covers this topic. I recommend it.

rhymenoceros 7y ago

Judicious editing. I think the Blaise Pascal quote about not having the time is relevant; making things concise takes more effort, particularly if you are not already in the habit of doing so already. Start with your communication, remove redundant or unnecessary words, then think about ways to compact things down even further by removing or rephrasing sentences. Going through "Elements of Style" by Strunk & White wouldn't hurt too.

sleepychu 7y ago
> remove redundant or unnecessary words Made me chuckle.
- rhymenoceros 7y ago
  Hah! Both words have (slightly) different meanings, but yeah, I ironically didn't follow my own advice :-)

webignition 7y ago

I think your message asking for such advice is itself of a suitable length where the problem is clearly stated without deviation or distraction. Taking your message on it's own, you have the ability to keep the message size small. Keep to the point, avoid distraction, stay focused, replace three words with two where two will suffice, replace two words with one where fitting. Omit needless words, make each word count.

probablypower 7y ago

It is likely that you provide more context than necessary. For example, you could've asked: "My emails tend to be too long. Does anyone have tips on writing concise emails?" Obviously your post was not an email, so the additional, narrative context you provided is welcome. In emails you should aim to provide just the key info, and to elaborate on any context in other forms of communication/documentation. I typically try to aim for just 2 lines of content. One is a statement of fact or a problem, the other is a question or a 'call to action'. I break this rule often, but I always pause to think if there is really a good reason to stray from that rule or if I'm just ranting/chatting. Often if people want context they'll come find you or call you.

__jf__ 7y ago

Yes, write short. This is the title of one of the chapters in “Writing without bullshit”, hilariously followed by the first paragraph: “Use fewer words”. Other tips from the book: * Edit everything * Aim for a word count * Say what you really mean * Start boldly * Organize relentlessly * Prune sections and arguments * Use bullets or tables * Use graphics * Trim connective tissue * Delete weasel-words and qualifiers

DonHopkins 7y ago
William Strunk would shout to his class: "Omit needless words! Omit needless words! Omit needless words!" https://www.brusselslegal.com/article/display/2563/Tip_2_Omit_needless_words https://www.brusselslegal.com/article/display/2563/Tip_2_Omi... https://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#13 https://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#13
- jaclaz 7y ago
  Umberto Eco would have added ;-): 13. Don't be repetitious; don't repeat the same thing twice; repeating is superfluous (redundancy means the useless explanation of something the reader has already understood). http://gioclairval.blogspot.com/2010/02/umberto-ecos-rules-for-writing-well.html http://gioclairval.blogspot.com/2010/02/umberto-ecos-rules-f...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

amelius 7y ago

Perhaps use an email client that has a Twitter-like limit on message length :)

splittingTimes 7y ago

Additionally to the tips from the story, this guide might further help you to focus the content of your mails and the delivery of the important message. It certainly help me. https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-precision https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-pre...

fanf2 7y ago

Put all the important points right at the start: bottom line up front “bluf”. Explicitly mark the point where your message becomes background detail, so people can stop reading there.

ysavir 7y ago

* Practice writing more concise emails. Especially if it's an email you already sent out. Ask yourself if the email had the intended effect, and what changes you could have made to better reach/improve that effect. * Look at the emails you receive that you feel do a good job of being concise. What do they have in common? What do you do differently from those emails? Start applying those differences when you write emails. * Look at the emails you receive that you feel don't do a good job of being concise, or are confusing otherwise (perhaps they're too concise). Open the email in an editor and make changes until you eliminate the problem areas. Can you make similar changes in your own emails? As a more concrete example, I originally had this text in the above paragraph: > Open the email in an editor and make the changes you would want to see until you see the email you wished you received I then revised it to: > Open the email in an editor and make changes until you eliminate the problem areas. In this and other cases, messages can be improved with better handling of the sentence's subject(s), tense, etc.

magicalhippo 7y ago

My approach: When reading what you've written, find the core of what you're really trying to say. Find the sentence or couple of sentences that conveys this core. Then see if the other sentences are really needed, removing those that aren't, tweaking the core as you go along. Repeat until you feel it can no longer be distilled further.