Can we bring the attention to precise word usage required in Twitter to our blogs, emails, brochures or longer-form communications?
My favorite saying when it comes to communication is, “If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter.” This is often attributed to Mark Twain – but he never said it. Blaise Pascal wrote in 1657, “I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short.” Perhaps it sounds better in French. The point is, it takes time to get messaging just right. Editing, reviewing and selecting the right words are skills sorely missing in fast-paced communication where this is often taken for granted.
I used to think email was destroying our ability to writer properly – or at least clearly. It often takes 4 or 5 exchanges to clarify a simple message. One phone call with instant back and forth where you can hear the tone of the caller can get the job done. Our written words lack the nuance and frankly we just don’t think of everything when we’re dashing off an email. The person on the other end of the phone often provides the questions or clues that we are missing critical ingredients.
Texting is another communication mode with its own language and rules. You must be brief – but there can be a lot of back and forth that’s part of the fun. And then there’s Twitter. The 140 character limit provides a framework that is poetry in some hands and indecipherable in others. One of the advantages of twitter is that you can’t go on and on and I think people actually spend more time composing and thinking about their language.
Can we bring the attention to precise word usage required in Twitter to our blogs, emails, brochures or longer-form communications? How can we cut-to-the-chase? “Cut-to-the-chase” means to get to the point without wasting the reader’s time. The phrase is attributed to silent movie editors from the 1920s who were literally cutting film to the climactic chase scene. Yet as late as 1988, William Safire was writing in The New York Times about the term as a new way to express “get to the point” or “bottom line.”
As visual communicators we use imagery and words to convey meaning and emotion. We are often challenged by long meandering manuscripts or poorly conceived content that had not been subjected to edits, reviews and clarifications. It takes time and work to evaluate and improve communication. As A.J. Leibling said, “I can write better than anybody who can write faster and I can writer faster than anybody who can write better.” The most effective communications are succinct and on-target – and they only get that way after many rounds of thoughtful review and refinement. The end result is a communication project that expresses the right mood, delivers the right information and successfully engages the recipient.
As Dr. Seuss says, “My believe is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader’s relief is.”
