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

by Jim Vandehei

“Short, not shallow,” is what we tell our reporters.

All they usually want to know is what’s new and “Why it matters.” Give them that.

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

you need six or fewer strong words

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.

we almost always need you to explain why your new fact, idea or thought matters.

should be truly worth their time.

your aim is to inform, captivate, motivate a particular audience.

Ask the author of the data what’s the most interesting thing about it. They know what it is—and they’ll tell you.

We tend to think too much about what we want to say versus what others need to hear.

Start any communication by thinking first of your very specific audience and what they need or want.

Singling out the person you want to reach clarifies things big-time.

“All you can do is the next right thing.”

short, smart, simple and direct can break through and persist.

William Strunk’s Elements of Style: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”

tightly tailor your message to your target reader.

find taut, vivid, memorable ways to express it.

Don’t be fancy—be effective.

“Your message is lost, your sincerity is in question—and your competency gives me pause, because you’re all over the place.”

just saying what we mean.”

“People want direct, clear, honest communication. If you try to spin or bullshit me, I’m out.”

don’t hide in a word dump.

Write like a human, for humans.

Be simple, clear, direct. Be conversational. Authenticity and relatability are essential ingredients. They help people become more willing to hear you and remember what you said.

just stop.

“Write your business email or letter. Then, when you’ve written the whole thing, go back and make the first two to three sentences say all of what you wrote below. It’s often the only part that gets read.”

The Axios audience team found that roughly 6 words is the optimal subject line for emails—short

Limit yourself to 6 words, tops.

In 10 words or less, write the

reason you’re bothering to write something in the first place.

The first sentence is your one—and likely only—chance to tell someone what they need to know and convince them not to move on.

type “Go deeper,” then link to your source material or to a video, podcast, bio, map, excerpts from a book, crosstabs of a poll—anything that lets the reader go down the rabbit hole.

Big blobs of bloviation bite

Just stop.

The most useful communication is often silence, grasshopper.

Smart, taut writing is linear, not twisty: Subject. Verb. Object.

He even puts the number of words and the minutes it’ll take to read them up top—just like we do on Axios newsletters.

Shorter is always better.

We use one-syllable words in subject lines.

Deploy STRONG words.

Strong words: Any one-syllable noun (fire, boat, cage, cliff, fish). Any one-syllable verb (chop, taunt, botch, crush).

Purge WEAK words.

Avoid foggy words.

“Could,” “may,” “might:” Those usually tell you nothing in terms of what’s happening.

Use active verbs.

The bottom line: Tell me a story. Don’t tell me about a story. ➏ Embrace strong phrases.

Check yourself.

Never get “retribution” if you can get “revenge.”

The big picture: One sentence is better than two sentences is better than three. Be as ruthless with your sentences as you are with your words. Be even more ruthless with your paragraphs. Package your words to pop.

You are in a war for attention, so every trick counts.