Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

The authors argue that today’s digital world calls for a different style of communication. The many platforms for communication available in the digital age have contributed to what the authors refer to as a “fog of words” (13). Especially on social media, gaining readers’ attention is a battle that the authors liken to a combat sport (155). With this overwhelming atmosphere in mind, writers must always consider and respect their busy readers’ time. In short, writers need a new approach for reaching their audience: “What we’re arguing is this: If you want vital information to stick in the digital world, you need to radically rethink—and repackage—how you deliver it” (16).

The new approach that the authors propose is smart brevity, which focuses on creating content that is as concise as possible and gets straight to the point. Readers are inundated with information. It is therefore crucial for writers to set themselves apart by streamlining their language. As the authors put it, “[t]he more noise and distractions there are, the more precision and efficiency matter in being heard—and remembered in all things” (173). Writers need to avoid a long-winded delivery that loses readers’ interest before readers even reach the main point of the written communication.