I write long.
I know it’s a flaw. I am naturally inclined to use two adjectives where one would do.* I literally double down on certain topics by restating entire forever lines over and over again.
Because I know it’s a flaw, I work hard to be more concise. I’ve found it’s easier to communicate shorter by communicating about fewer, more focused things.
Break it up. Allow yourself one topic per engagement. One effect per effort.
Have two thoughts in your head? Share either one, then listen. Maybe you’ll circle round to the second later, maybe you won’t. But the discussion will lead somewhere.
It’s hard to break up our discussion points and leave something on our mind unsaid. Actually, it’s just hard to convince yourself to do it. Once you do, execution is easy.
This works with story telling. There’s a reason authors start with “Chapter 1” and not “Chapter 1 through 4.” Aesop’s Fables and the Parables of Jesus have been around forever teach one lesson each.
This works with staff members. I engage others to drive the most important next step they can help me with. Later, when the conditions are right, I follow up with a thank you and step two.
This works with blog posts. When a post runs long, I cut it off when one lesson is complete. Why cram in a secondary point when it can be its own fleshed out primary point another day?
I write long … so I write about less.
(Photo by (appropriately) Senior Airman Christopher S. Sparks, DVIDS)
*In a recent post, i said PAOs should be “mobile and ready to move.” In another, the headline actually said “background and context.”
