The Lord’s Prayer has 56 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has 266 words. The Ten Commandments has 297 words. The Declaration of Independence has 300 words. The 2022 USDA Guide for Shell Egg Grading Procedures (voluntary program) has 24,036 words.
Yep. Let that sink in.
There is this great fable, told by different people in different ways about a man who had a chalk sign in front of his shop that said’ “Fresh Fish Sold Here.” One customer suggested that one could assume the fish were fresh. The sign became, “Fish Sold Here.” Later, another remarked that of course the fish were being sold and not given away. “Fish Here.” Yet another pointed out where else would the fish be. “Fish.” Finally, a customer looked at the sign and proclaimed. “‘Fish?’ No kidding. I’m standing right here. I can smell them, can’t I?” Finally, the sign was wiped clean. Later, the shop owner’s wife noticed they had no customers and chastised her husband for erasing the sign.
The moral and the key is to strike a balance. I just told that story in less words than anywhere else I could find it. You still understood it.
Brevity is about respecting everyone’s time. Brevity avoids redundancy. Brevity can take ten seconds (attention span). Brevity in email doesn’t need the scroll bar.
Clarity ensures the receiver understands the sender. Clarity doesn’t assume. Clarity identifies the action and the actor. Clarity loves Who, What, When, Why, and Where.
Complexity is confusing and hard to understand. A crisis response can be complex. Those impacted want simple answers. The crisis communicator needs to translate complexity into simplicity.
This is the shortest blog I have written to date, clear, and not complex (287 words).
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Stoneking Strategic Communications (SSC) 