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

by Jim Vandehei

you need six or fewer strong words to yank someone’s attention

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’re too ashamed or afraid to ask, but we almost always need you to explain why your new fact, idea or thought matters.

Don’t force someone to read or hear more than they want. Make it their decision.

These are guardrails, not hard-and-fast, never-break-them rules.

Cowards hide in clauses.

“We hide our insecurity in additional words,”

your competency gives me pause, because you’re all over the place.”

Focus on ONE person you are targeting.

ONE thing you want them to remember.

If you don’t know exactly what you’re trying to convey, the reader has zero chance of understanding it.

Be simple, clear, direct. Be conversational. Authenticity

When we’re sitting face-to-face, we have social cues that keep us from being boring.

Write down that one thing you want the reader, viewer or listener to remember

before doing anything else.

List the points you must make.

“If there’s only one thing you remember from this talk . . .” That’s a great way to signal unmistakably what matters most and what you want people to take away.

write them as bullets, not blobs of text.

6 words is the optimal subject line for emails—short

useful content—tips and training—also helps amp up his engagement.

Write—then go back and kill at least half the words. It winds up sharper every time.

Learn to identify and trumpet ONE thing you want people to know. And do it in ONE strong sentence.

Team of Vipers remains one of the best reads on Trumpworld insanity.

After you do an interview or cover an event, call your editor, roommate or significant other and tell them what happened. That’s your first sentence. Every. Single. Time.

“By the numbers” . . . “The context” . . “What’s happening” . . “The other side” . . “Reality check”—these Axioms are all crystal-clear signposts that guide someone who’s skimming. (And trust us: They all are.)

favorite Axioms: • The big picture • What’s next • What we’re watching • What we’re hearing • Between the lines • The backstory • Catch up quick • Zoom in • Zoom out The

Success is leaving me wanting more because what I’m reading feels so new, essential, riveting.

The bullet point is a wonderful way to isolate important facts or ideas.

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.

saying more with less. This is not natural or easy but can be learned with practice.

difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

You want to strike like lightning, not annoy like bugs.

you’d never call a banana an “elongated yellow fruit.” Yet when we’re writing, we do this all the time.

one-syllable word is more powerful than a two-syllable word is more powerful than a three-syllable word. We use one-syllable words in subject lines.

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

WEAK words.

if you wouldn’t say it at a bar or the beach, kill it.

“10-dollar words.”

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

“Almost anything could happen.” This sentence will do nothing to inform, persuade, convince, delight—the whole point of writing something in the first place.

Instead, say what is happening: Is it “planned” or being “considered” or “discussed”? Is it “fea...

Roy races Miatas. • A passive verb is foggier—it’s someone making an observation: “Roy is known to race Miatas.”

The bottom line: Tell me a story. Don’t tell me about a story.

Mike remembers her reading aloud a passage about a fish. It was evocative and specific—you could see that fish in your mind. Then she asked the workshop what was notable about the writing. Nobody got it. Every word was one syllable long. The power was in the simplicity.

Useful emojis for business communication: Data or poll Election Killing it D’oh Perfect Oy

Deadline Restaurant review Devices Sports Food

An emoji in a subject line will make it instantly stand out in your inbox.

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

Our research shows a big drop-off after 200 words.

Start your presentation with your big idea, distilled using the tricks for teases in chapter 6. • Each point you make on subsequent slides should have a similarly taut headline and then a few bullet points with the shortest ONE sentence possible. Rule of thumb: If you have more than 20 words on a slide, try again.