Less is More - Communicating with Precision

When you’re talking, how do people respond?

Are they engaged? Do people comprehend what you’re saying?  Do people think you’re rambling? Do they ever look at you like this?

When you send a message, do you get responses?  Or do you send things out into the void - never to hear back?  

Could you be a victim of the dreaded TL/DR?

How can we do a better job of engaging people?

It’s simple.

We communicate with PRECISION.

Communicating with PRECISION means two things:

1️⃣ choosing the right words, optimizing your vocabulary

2️⃣ being succinct, being concise

You can optimize your words when you learn the vocabulary. At work, this comes with time and experience. What about being succinct?  

Whether your communication is verbal or written, professional or personal, it’s almost always best to be succinct.  I’m not talking about answering with one-word answers or being short with people.  I’m talking about being concise.

TL/DR:  Less is more.

Why we should communicate with precision

Communicating with precision improves comprehension, recall, persuasion, and likeability! Whether verbal or written, clear and concise communication is appreciated.  

It’s about cutting to the chase.

PRECISE communication leads to improved comprehension.

A precise message is easier to understand because it is more focused, easier to recall, and often more persuasive.

I tell my clients that while we may be coming from a place of generosity when we go on and on, the truly generous communicators are the ones who do the work instead of imposing that work on the reader.  They cut the unnecessary ideas and words. They focus.

Say you’ve got a job interview. Did you know that the more precise you are with your answers, and letting the interviewer do most of the talking, the more likely you are to get the job?

Similarly, the less talking you do in a sales pitch, and the more you allow the prospective customer or client to speak, the more likely you are to make the sale.

This also applies to social settings. Research has shown that when we encourage others to speak more, they end up liking us more.

TL/DR:  Improved comprehension and increased likeability? Communicating with precision is a win-win!

Get to the point!

What's the first thing you see when you open a newspaper? The headlines!

HEADLINES let you know the article's main point before you even read it.

You can use a similar approach in your written and verbal communication to be more precise. 

I learned this lesson the hard way as a doctoral student at Harvard Business School.

I was giving a presentation about my research, and I thought everything was going great, when a senior faculty member asked, "Andrea, what's your point?"

I said I'd get to it in a minute, after I shared my research methodology, and he slammed his hand on the desk and said, "No, you need to tell us your punchline. Now. Or your audience walks."

What did I learn from this?

Avoid suspense.

TL/DR:  Get to the point. Start with the headline.

REPEAT Yourself

Did I really just tell you to repeat yourself? YES! Does this seem counterintuitive? Also YES!

But it works. I promise!

There are three steps (of course): 

Think of it this way:

1️⃣ Start with the HEADLINE

2️⃣ Share the CONTENT

3️⃣ SUMMARIZE your main point

I do this ALL THE TIME in my podcast episodes. I start by telling you what you'll learn, then I share the content, and finally, I summarize.

Try this strategy the next time you're writing an email or giving a presentation. You'll be amazed at how clear and precise your communication can be.

TL/DR: "Tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them."

Bonus content:

One of my favorite books about communicating with precision is Smart Brevity by Axios founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz. Their goal is to prioritize essential news and information, explain its impact, and deliver it in a concise, visual format.

It’s definitely worth a read, and yes, it’s brief and concise.

Talk soon,

Andrea

Dr. Andrea Wojnicki is a Harvard-educated executive communication coach. She founded "Talk About Talk" to help ambitious executives communicate with confidence and clarity by focusing on topics such as personal branding, overcoming imposter syndrome, listening, demonstrating leadership, and formal presentation skills.  Andrea provides 1:1 coaching, workshops, keynote speeches, and online courses. She also shares her thought leadership as a columnist at Inc. magazine and she hosts the Talk About Talk podcast, with over 175 episodes and counting.