Blah blah blah… This is a state of mind that everyone is guilty of succumbing to from time to time, whether we’re on the giving or receiving end of the communication. We’re overloaded with information every day – both visually in terms of graphics and ads, and verbally in all sorts of communications, from speeches to sound bites. It’s not surprising that many of us feel as if our culture is developing a collective attention-deficit disorder. Our attention spans are growing smaller, and our patience is waning.
Admitting there’s a problem is the first step toward solving it. In the business world, your best bet is adjusting your behavior to counter it. Joseph McCormack’s Brief: Make A Bigger Impact by Saying Less is a remarkable guide that can show you the way. Whether you’re communicating via text, email, on the phone or in person, Brief provides step-by-step instructions to strip your message to its essence. It also details the pitfalls that many of us fall victim to when it comes to our own impatience or poor communication.
Here is a summary from Amazon:
“The only way to survive in business today is to be a lean communicator. Busy executives expect you to respect and manage their time more effectively than ever. You need to do the groundwork to make your message tight and to the point. The average professional receives 304 emails per week and checks their smartphones 36 times an hour and 38 hours a week. This inattention has spread to every part of life. The average attention span has shrunk from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight in 2012.
“So, throw them a lifeline and be brief.
“Author Joe McCormack tackles the challenges of inattention, interruptions, and impatience that every professional faces. His proven B.R.I.E.F. approach, which stands for Background, Relevance, Information, Ending, and Follow up, helps simplify and clarify complex communication. BRIEF will help you summarize lengthy information, tell a short story, harness the power of infographics and videos, and turn monologue presentations into controlled conversations.
- Details the B.R.I.E.F. approach to distilling your message into a brief presentation
- Written by the founder and CEO of Sheffield Marketing Partners, which specializes in message and narrative development, who is also a recognized expert in Narrative Mapping, a technique that helps clients achieve a clearer and more concise message
“Long story short: BRIEF will help you gain the muscle you need to eliminate wasteful words and stand out from the rest. Be better. Be brief.”
