Keep it Short, Stupid

There are times that the simplicity of salt and sweet seem to overwhelm even the most sophisticated mind. Such was the case last night, when I attended a poetry reading for the first time in a long time and heard words like entopic and callously wanting, merely to possess. The most successful of the three readers stayed far away from such churning verbiage and preferred instead to tell a story; in one case, the most heart-wrenching story I’ve heard in years. It worked because it was true. Far be it from me to suggest that you attend a poetry reading, but as we reach the end of the summer saturation, the lesson I learned can be writ large: the message needs to be reduced to bare essentials.

If you like, you can blame it on exigencies that neither pinch nor bind, but instead open the path to simplicity. The planets are aligned for you to be at your clearest. The weather demands no description other than “whew. Hot.” The ones you love lie stupefied before the 200m butterfly preliminary heats, letting the moment wash over them at a safe remove. You are ideally situated to speak truth to power, to those that feel powerless, to the world in general.

And lest I be accused of needing a shot of my own sauce: Say it right, say it once, mean what you say. If necessary define your terms beforehand. Give the people who need it the guidance they require without guessing games.

The homework: imagine that you are restricted to Twitter-sized utterances to explain your business model, pitch your product, and coach your team. That’s 140 characters - an elevator speech for mice. Should you pick up the gauntlet, remember that even the smallest concessions to style will interfere with your level of candor. See what you would say if you had to say nearly nothing.