I’ll Be Brief…About Brevity
Hey Rhetors,
When I shut my laptop after setting up my post last Sunday, I heard a voice telling me “That post was waaay too long.”
I didn’t need someone to tell me. As a marketer, writing for multiple companies and in a variety of formats helps you catch onto that “shut up” moment. But, with my usual weekly deadline fast approaching, I made the call to go to bed rather than agonize over my passion project for hours and ruin my coworker’s day by being a sleep-deprived grump.
Yes, I learned my lesson. Now I’m writing to you far in advance, and the goal is to make this week’s post as concise as possible. Definitely shorter than the 1060 words you likely skimmed after saying “Jesus Tim, Chobani isn’t this cool.” (If you’re a new subscriber and missed last week’s post, here it is, check it out if you have a long attention span).
But how does one stay concise? After some reflection on experience, some scientific backed research, and chatting with others in my industry, I think I’ve come to 3 very helpful tactics you can use this week and beyond. Let’s take a look!
Tactic 1: Audience, Then Purpose
One of my first communication courses during college was called “Audience Matters.”
The course name sounds like common sense, but so many of us forget about who’s on the other end of our message when we’re not trained to think about them first. Even politicians, sales folks, and marketers forget on occasion (likely due to ego, but that’s a post for another day). Most of us start our message with our purpose “what do I want to tell the world?” Sure, you might have a vision, but focusing too much on the purpose can lead you to talking and writing in spirals.
On the other hand, when you start your message with your audience, you immediately get a sense of time. Unless your Barack Obama, chances are your audience is looking mostly for you to get to the point, with a little enchantment. Keep them in mind first, and you’ll find your message sharper than you would’ve thought.
Tactic 2: Cap It Off
I’ll never forget my first assignment of my sophomore year of high school in American Literature. My English teacher stood resolutely in the front of the room like Gandalf the Grey and exclaimed, “You…shall not…go over two pages!”
Me, the grade grubber / kid who participates too much, asked, “What happens if we do?” He promptly replied that if we didn’t cap it off by 2 pages, we wouldn’t get better than a B.
Now, I’m sure part of his motive to restrict us was because reading high school essays sounds like a torture method they use in hell, but also it was to teach us a lesson: if you can’t make a point in 2 pages, is there really a point?
So here’s my point: if you impose a limit on yourself, you’ll get more creative and effective with your message!
Tactic 3: Work Out, Not In
Being clever is fun, but in order to do so, you need to add more content. Sometimes, we all get caught under the spell of coming off clever rather than getting the point across fast, and that results in a diluted message.
To keep some of your genius intact, start by stating your point in one sentence or paragraph. If you need more to support that message, build around it. Every time you add something new to your message, check in with the entire thing: Did it just get strong
This Week: Cap an Email Off
To practice brevity this week, start small, with your next email that feels a little long. In 2016, Boomerang did a study of 40 million sales emails and found out that emails between 50 and 125 words get the best response rate. So, put a cap on your email! If you’re over 125, can you cut anything and still keep the main point? I’ll be doing this too and will let you know the results at the bottom of next week’s post.
Talk soon,
Tim
Curation Corner
If this is your first TWR post, here’s the skinny. Every week, I put together the following, so you can explore communication related and adjacent works by people much more creative and skilled than me! Take a look at this week’s below:
Quote of the Week: “Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” – Charles Dickens www.azquotes.com/quote/77883?ref=communication
Video of the Week: “Heart – Stairway to Heaven Led Zepplin – Kennedy Center Honors HD” by Mark Pakula. Not really communication related, but give you chills watching it and has a great story behind it! https://youtu.be/2cZ_EFAmj08?si=WU0GI8RPWpXbKUZt
Podcast of the Week: “5 Speaking Traps that Make Smart People Look Insecure” by Public Speaking Foundations: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1RBvT55gKnmenb0qUkUYOg?si=b291343f7b8946ce
Book of the Week: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. I read this in 2025 and made my top 10 of all time: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54785515-four-thousand-weeks