Write with brevity

Ideally, sentences should have fewer than 15 words. This improves clarity. Force your brain to think this way by pretending you’re out of breath. When you’re struggling to catch your breath, you only say what matters. Brevity begins as a state of mind.

Write your request as you normally would. Make sure that you’ve provided enough information for others to loop themselves in. Now, cut the last line and paste it at the top. 9 times out of 10, this simple act will bring your ask up front. You may need to tweak the line or gently reframe the lines after, but this abrupt switch will rewire your brain to think about the bottom line first and list it up front.

 

Humans are storytellers. We love character development, story arcs, and punch lines. We’re used to setting things up and then delivering the real news. Brevity requires you to think differently — and do the opposite. 

Actively avoid words which weaken your point. Use hard figures instead of roundabouts like “nearly” or “almost.” If you spot an adverb, remove it. (Example: replace “increased massively” with “added 400 new members.”) To avoid doing this manually, paste your communication into online editor tools and consider their recommendations (be mindful of your organization’s policies and remove any confidential information).