No End Insight
“I didn’t have time to write a short note, so I wrote a long one instead.”
-Mark Twain
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
-Dr. Seuss
“If you can remove a word, you have probably improved the joke.”
-Traditional saying in comedy
Will this conversation ever end?
Think back to the last time you were caught in a conversational death trap with no means of escape. Is the person you’re imagining talking too much, or not enough?
My bet is “too much.”
While we occasionally hit a dead end with someone who can’t find anything interesting to say, it’s far more common to feel trapped by someone who just won’t shut up.
What compels people to talk and talk with no end in sight?
Your professor was right
Writing papers was so much easier in high school than in college. Not because the content was harder, but because there were more teacher-imposed restrictions on the assignment.
“It must be 2 pages, double-spaced, size 12, Times New Roman.”
Okay, no problem. How do I know when I’m finished? When my double-spaced, size 12, Times New Roman paper hits the end of page 2.
But for the first writing assignment in my philosophy degree I asked my professor, “How long should the paper be?”
His answer?
“However long it needs to be, and not a word longer.”
As angry as that made us at the time, the practice of learning how to fully make a point without wasting the reader’s time on unnecessary information was crucial to my success later in life, and in business.
Concise Connection
If brevity is the soul of wit, then conciseness is the soul of communication.
I know, it’s not as catchy - but think back to the last truly great conversation you had, one that left you feeling inspired, empowered, joyous, or energized. Now ask yourself:
Did you talk more, or did they?
I’m betting the answer is 'neither.' It was likely a pretty even back-and-forth, a series of questions, answers, and follow-ups that flowed naturally.
That’s what happens when we speak with intention, clarity, and conciseness. We say enough to be interesting and engaging, but not so much as to lose our conversational partner’s focus.
Effective communication is the foundation of human connection. You want to connect with anyone?
Speak with insight, rather than no end in sight.
