Smart Brevity Quotes

“And then try to do all of this on one screen of a phone, regardless of what it is. Voilà . . . Smart Brevity.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“Smart Brevity’s Core 4 Smart Brevity, in written form, has four main parts, all easy to learn and put into practice—and then teach. They don’t apply in every circumstance but will help you begin to get your mind around the shifts you need to make. 1 A muscular “tease”: Whether in a tweet, headline or email subject line, you need six or fewer strong words to yank someone’s attention away from Tinder or TikTok. 2 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. 3 Context, or “Why it matters”: We’re all faking it. Mike and I learned this speaking to Fortune 500 CEOs. We all know a lot about a little. We’re too ashamed or afraid to ask, but we almost always need you to explain why your new fact, idea or thought matters. 4 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.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“People want to know something new, revelatory, exciting. And they want you to put it in context and explain “Why it matters.” Then, with a visual or verbal cue, they decide whether to “Go deeper” into the conversation.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“Most people think about what they want to say and then pollute and dilute it with mushy words, long caveats and pointless asides. Brevity is the casualty.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“We’re also not saying to write short for short’s sake—you bring more soul and salience to your writing by being direct, helpful and time-saving. Don’t omit important facts or nuance, oversimplify or dumb down. “Short, not shallow,” is what we tell our reporters.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“You can’t rally people around a strategy or an idea if they don’t understand what you’re saying—or zone out.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“on the wall of the Arlington, Virginia, newsroom of our start-up, Axios. It reads: “Brevity is confidence. Length is fear.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“Most of us are terrible multitaskers, and we struggle to refocus once our attention is yanked away. It takes most people more than 20 minutes to snap back into focus after a distraction.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

“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.”
― Jim Vandehei, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less