Smart Brevity

Emails, snail mail, Slack messages, texts, books, tweets, posts, blogs, reports, articles, shared documents … we are awash in communications!

Shouldn’t we stop a moment and think about how we write all this stuff?

Back in 2020, when the world felt unprecedented, a friend suggested the news service Axios. Short, simple emails that cover the top news stories in 2-3 minutes arrive each day, with links to go deeper.

Just recently the founders of Axios have written Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More With Less.

The world needs this book.

At least I do. And many of the people who write to me need it too.

This is much more than cutting words or slicing details. It’s a method for saying the things that absolutely have to be said. It allows the writer — and thus the reader — to stay focused.

A few months ago the leadership shift at PathLight allowed us a chance to rethink written communications. Smart Brevity was released in the midst of this transition and it was immensely helpful. I bought copies for everyone at PathLight responsible for communications.

Unconsciously, I had been practicing many of the Smart Brevity methods in my Junkyard Wisdom devotions. My devotions are:

– short (about 300 words)

– get to the point

– state a purpose

– are easy to read

– have a touch of humor

Of course they are not nearly as good as they could be, but I’m getting better!

Here’s why it matters: Smart Brevity is a great book for anyone in business, ministry, education, health care … honestly, it’s a great book for everyone. But I used too many words to say that. I’ll be in touch after I edit this.