brevity, powerpoint and making no points
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“I know you can be underwhelmed and overwhelmed, but can you ever just be ‘whelmed’?”
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10 things I hate about you
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“I am overflowing with words I do not have.”
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Adam Falkner
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“Aiming at brevity, I become obscure.”
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Horace
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So. This is about brevity and powerpoint <and, yes, I do believe powerpoint, when used well, is an effective communication tool>. Regardless. Is it possible to love brevity and the use of prose? If so, it is I that does so.
I wanted to share that thought before I said this: the concept of brevity has been bastardized in today’s world – especially in business. More specifically, it has absolutely destroyed the effective use of power point and, in general, communication in business.
Brevity just for the sake of brevity is … well … bad.
Note: I read somewhere that the average English word has just five letters <by the way, short is a 5 letter word>.
Brevity, when used well, provides the spark for ideas, energy, action and the space to say & do more things.
Brevity, when used poorly, creates confusion, lack of clarity, obscurity and inevitably … lack of progress.
I loved it when I read Brigadier General McMaster, US military, suggested that the brevity-driven powerpoint presentation in the military is an “internal threat.” Why does he believe that?
“It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.
Some problems are not bullet-izable.”
<amen>
And, yet, day in and day out everything in business has to be delivered as an ‘elevator speech’ or ‘a defining visual’ or, well, as few words as possible. While this sounds great … it is crazy. Business, in general, is staggeringly complex. The complexity with which successful businesses are successful can be staggering to someone who has never been involved in the typical business decision. Little things are rarely little. And little words may look little but, well, they are anything but a reflection of non-little things.
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“The little things? The little moments? — They aren’t little. “
John Zabat-Zinn
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To be clear. This doesn’t mean going thru the rigor of tightening, focus and conciseness isn’t valuable … it is just that simply relying on ‘brevity’ is … well … creating an illusion rather than depicting reality. I would much rather we focus on getting the ‘largest amount of truth into the briefest space’ <paraphrased from Beecher> than simplistic brevity.
Brevity, well used, can like be like a knife.
Oops. I didn’t say what kind of knife did I? A scalpel? A butcher knife? A butter knife?
Brevity, more often than not, actually creates ambiguity. It leaves spaces which someone other than you fill. And they fill it with whatever THEY think which is not necessarily what is intended.
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“Ambiguity of language is philosophy’s main source of problems.
That is why it is of the utmost importance to examine attentively the very words we use.”
Giuseppe Peano
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And we wonder why it seems so often there is a lack of alignment between what we said and what was heard?
Shit. It’s not that most business people suck at communicating because, honestly, most experienced business people given the right forum and the proper amount of time are actually very good at articulating whatever it is they want to communicate. It is when forced into a ‘brevity-driven format’ that communication starts breaking down.
The people who can truly communicate well thru brevity is a very limited number — think maybe fingers on a hand. You can most likely find them at large conferences, TED presentations or on YouTube.
And we all want to emulate them.
And we all cannot.
I do not dislike the intent behind seeking brevity I just dislike much of the brevity output. While I love brevity I know that is neither my strength nor is it my ‘gig.’ I revel in the nuance and can be wonky at times. Therefore I seek balance. If in PowerPoint … I tend to alternate pages … one so brief it looks stark followed by a page which breaks the starkness into its beautiful fragmented complexity … only to shift to a starkly brief next page. This is what I try to do although I cannot claim success every time.
But. In the attempt I find I at least get closer to it than simply bludgeoning people with thoughts & words.
I dream of being able to communicate thru brevity.
If you doubt that just look at the very limited list of sites I link to on my site, each and every one of them is a vivid example of brevity.
Storypeople.com, gapingvoid.com deliver irreverent brilliant short satisfaction span brevity thoughts>. They say some really smart things. And in a way that makes you sometimes scratch your head. And sometimes laugh <while crying inside having lived through a version of it>.
I aspire to brevity in brilliance. But, alas, at my age I believe I am doomed to ramble. So I will live brevity vicariously through the ones who are truly good at it.
Look. I fully understand why we have this almost unhealthy pursuit of brevity — because most of us <myself included> waste the shit out of words.
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“As humans, we waste the shit out of our words. It’s sad. We use words like awesome and wonderful like they’re candy.
It was awesome? Really? It inspired awe? It was wonderful? Are you serious? It was full of wonder?
You use the word amazing to describe a goddamn sandwich at Wendy’s. What’s going to happen on your wedding day, or when your first child is born? How will you describe it? You already wasted amazing on a fucking sandwich. “
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All I can really say is that we all want brevity … but we do not always need it. Maybe all we can do is … well … in the pursuit of brevity you should savor ever word because if it has no taste than you should not serve it. In the end, brevity is really nothing more, or nothing less, than stripping away the unnecessary and focusing on the necessary.