More words don’t mean more smarts.

Many people can point to that one class they took in college that impacted their lives. Mine changed the way I communicate. I took two literature classes while at the University of Michigan that taught me more useful skills than anything I learned in the rest of my formal education (including two stints in grad school). These classes, taught by Professor Eric Rabkin, required us to read a novel each week, and write a very short (I think the limit was two double-spaced pages) paper with a solid thesis and argument. If you went over the page limit your grade was severely impacted. If you didn’t make a cohesive argument for your thesis your grade was severely impacted. You had to write far more than two pages while forming your thoughts and then edit critically to make sure you made your case concisely.

I’ve been thinking about this lesson a lot this week. First I was discussing a potential project with a client. The end deliverable will be a single page with a complex plan distilled down to a simple illustration. We discussed the scope of the project and agreed that this was one of those situations where I’d probably need to write thirty pages in order to get that one perfect page. I’ve also been doing quite a bit of business writing coaching, helping smart people working in complicated areas craft succinct messages. The natural tendency is to “show your work” which often results in lengthy decks and emails. I’m helping my clients learn how to identify the key messages and deliver them in an appropriate manner for their specific audiences.

I encourage them to step away from their first draft for a few hours, then come back with fresh eyes, and ask:

·       Who is my audience?

·       How much do they know about this topic?

·       How will they be consuming this information? Will they be able to focus on what I’m saying, or will they be skimming?

·       How much background do I need to provide?

·       What do I want them to walk away knowing?

·       What do I want them to do with this knowledge?

·       Where can you send them to learn more if necessary?

We then refine the communications to ensure that the answers to these questions are clear, and that extraneous content is removed.

Remember that using more words doesn’t necessarily provide more value. Taking the time to edit will always be appreciated.