Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less (Revised and Updated)

by Jim Vandehei

Eye-tracking studies show that we spend 26 seconds, on average, reading a piece of content.

On average, we spend fewer than 15 seconds on most of the web pages we click. Here’s another crazy stat: One study found that our brain decides in 17 milliseconds if we like what we just clicked. If not, we zip on.

We check our phones 344-plus times each day—once every 4 minutes, at least. Behavioral research—and our own BS detectors—show we underreport our true usage.

There is actually little evidence that this behavior is rewiring our adult brains. Rather, we’ve always been prone to distraction. It’s just that now we are getting slapped silly with an explosion of minute-by-minute distractions.

Start by accepting that most people will scan or skip most of what you communicate—and then make every word and sentence count.

You will quickly discover a new self-confidence in your crisp, clear voice—and find others listening and remembering (and hopefully sharing) your most salient points. You will be heard again.

Mastering both parts—making something smart and brief—sharpens thinking, saves time and cuts through the noise.

Most people are lousy writers and fuzzy thinkers.

One strong first sentence, or “lede”: Your opening sentence should be the most memorable—tell me something I don’t know, would want to know, should know. Make this sentence as direct, short and sharp as possible.

The choice to learn more, or “Go deeper”: Don’t force someone to read or hear more than they want. Make it their decision. If they decide “yes,” what follows should be truly worth their time.

Then along came the web. Holy shit—what a wake-up call. The web offered something newspapers never did: actual data on who was reading what. Data has a funny way of humbling you. It left us naked, fully exposed to the truth: Almost no one was reading most of our words. We filled holes in newspapers, but they were black holes, sucking in our time and energy. Yours too.

Then try to shorten it to fewer than a dozen words—less is more. It should be a declarative statement or data point, not a question. Make sure it’s new or essential. Scrub the weak words and delete any soggy verbs or adjectives.

We do the same thing when we’re breaking up, asking for a raise, confessing bad behavior. We keep talking. It’s human nature. And it kills relationships—and communication. So just stop.

Delete, delete, delete. What words, sentences or paragraphs can you eliminate before sending? Every word or sentence you can shave saves the other person time. Less is more—and a gift.

The Axios audience team found that roughly 6 words is the optimal subject line for emails—short enough to show all words in a mobile phone format.

Why it matters: A hot name or brand in your headline or subject line—Warren Buffett for a business crowd, Nike for students—gives you a head start on scoring that 1 second of attention you need to get a busy, demanding person to click.

Whether they’re reading email, on Facebook or on a phone, most busy people remember only snippets. They’re scanning your musings—not reading word for word—and trying to answer two questions: • What the hell is this? • Is it worth my time?

Use bullets, often. The bullet point is a wonderful way to isolate important facts or ideas. Think of how you scan or skim, searching speedily for something that pops out. The bullet point breaks up the text and sticks out because of the spacing and rhythm it imposes. • The Golden Rule of Bullets: Nobody wants to stare at a clump of words and figures. If you want to explain three or more different data points or related ideas, split them into bulleted points. People will skim nicely separated, bulleted points.

We’ve rightfully dunked on journalists a lot in this book, but business writing is at least as bad. Don’t say “price point” if you mean “price.” Don’t say “core competency” if you mean “skill.” Smart, taut writing is linear, not twisty: Subject. Verb. Object.

Why it matters: Emojis, once the cheeky domain of kids and jokes, can be absolute conveying emotion, intent and even nuance. It’s easy to abuse them or come off like your old man in designer skinny jeans. But used sparingly and effectively, they are .

Use them too much and you look silly. But inserted at the right moment, they help instantly signal the tone or topic of an item, saving you and the reader time by getting them in the right headspace.

Communicating a company’s values is now essential to both attracting and retaining the best talent. Axios HQ users found that weekly updates by each department, project or team done with a predictable template and cadence helps: • Align people around values, strategies, a common culture. • Articulate diversity, inclusion, and equity plans and progress. • Explain in order of importance the most pressing tasks to be done. • Update others on progress or changes and keep clients fully looped in. • Maintain a living library of the essential strategic decisions and thinking.

The person calling the meeting should be responsible for setting an objective (one direct sentence) and agenda (three bullet points, max) in an email before the meeting. • Try to do this the night before, in case some participants are booked solid on the day of. It gives ample time to think.

Next, state unambiguously what specific decisions need to be made. You’ll circle back to these at the end with your takeaways.

When 2 minutes are left, bring the discussion to an end. Summarize the takeaways and be specific about next steps. Let the team know that you’ll send an email memorializing these before close of business.

Describe the status quo: how the world or topic exists today. • Contrast with your lofty idea—ideally, the point of your speech. • Move back and forth from what is and what could be. • Make a call to action. • End with a vivid portrait of utopia if they embrace your idea.

Distill and sharpen your most important ONE point or lesson. Write it down, word for word—don’t hazily know it. Once you have your Big Thought, build your speech around it.

Write down the precise outcome you want and three to five points you MUST make to support it.

Simplify every slide. • One message per slide. People should absorb your point in 3 seconds, max.

Keep it short, stupid. Educational theory shows we can process a presentation best if it has one big idea, backed by three to five points. It’s like Smart Brevity anywhere else.

A magical thing happens when you communicate crisply and transparently: You cut out all the employee gossip and pot-stirring that come from being confused or kept in the dark.

It is impossible to overdose on this: Your mission begins to sink in only when you’ve annoyed yourself with repetition.

If you’re a CEO, leader or manager, you’re successful and hopefully smart. But not that smart. Show gratitude, admit mistakes, poke fun at yourself. It frees those around you to stop acting like self-important corporate jackasses too.

The principles of Smart Brevity can help bridge differences in background and abilities. It’s direct and stripped down—accessible and nondivisive by design. • Executed carefully, it’s a universal style of communication, naturally cleansing much of the cultural bias and complexity from the author. • It can make what matters most accessible to people with learning disabilities—such as dyslexia— and those for whom English is a second language. We live in a diverse country in a globalized time, so these principles are more important than ever.