3 Why You Struggle with Brevity: The Seven Capital Sins

Long story, short. Brevity is difficult to master because there are many subtle, unconscious “seven capital sins” that can interfere.
Why Is It So Difficult?
Why can’t we simply add “being succinct” to our tool belt, alongside punctuality and neat handwriting? There is no single reason why people find it hard to be brief. Love of talking seems to be the logical front-runner, but in reality, it is among a short list of seven key contributors that can be deadly if left unchecked.
Which ones do you struggle with? Be honest—chances are that more than one applies to you.

1.Cowardice: “I am afraid that it’s hard to say. There are a lot of perspectives on that topic.” Please take a stand and tell us what you really think.
2.Confidence: “I know the material so well I could talk about it for days.” Save us the time, and don’t.
3.Callousness: “This will only take a minute …” Really? Do you not see how busy I am? When you don’t respect people’s time, it always turns into an hour.
4.Comfort: “Once I start talking, it feels so soothing and I just get on a roll.” Can you have the discipline to hit the Stop button?
5.Confusion: “Bear with me; I am just thinking out loud.” Well, your mind is a mess—why do you have to share it with us?
6.Complication: “That is a really intricate issue. You cannot explain it easily.” But your job is to simplify it for us.
7.Carelessness: “Did I say that out loud?” Um, yes you did, so use a filter next time.

It is not enough to simply understand the need for brevity. You need to go deeper and figure out why it’s so difficult for you to get to the point. Brevity is a habit, and this short list of vices must be addressed to develop it. So compare your situation with those shown in the illustrations for each sin, and be honest—which ones do you need to confess?
1.Cowardice
• Issue: You hide behind meaningless words and don’t have the guts to be clear and take a stand. You’re afraid someone will challenge or disagree with you, so you mask your message in mounds of jargon and buzzwords and always take the middle road.
• Illustration: You work for a global manufacturing company and specialize in supply chain logistics. It is a complex business with plenty of nuance, change, and pressures. When you speak, you crank out waves of PowerPoint slides and rattle out business-speak that leaves management wondering, “What did you just say?”
• Impact: Your leadership team doesn’t know what to do with your assessment and guidance and subconsciously starts questioning your leadership ability. “What is your recommendation or plan of attack?” they wonder. When someone who is braver and clearer steps up, you’re history

2.Confidence
• Issue: You are a know-it-all and, to everyone’s dismay, cannot restrain yourself from explaining every painful detail. The word pedantic suits you perfectly, and you believe you could teach a class on your favorite topic.
• Illustration: You are a subject matter expert on Internet security. You write books, white papers, and blogs on the topic, and you are frequently invited to give speeches on the matter. One would expect your talks to be interesting, but they’re long, dry, and technical. Even your stories are boring, and your e-mails read like a dissertation.
• Impact: Nobody likes to talk to you because once you start, there is little they can do to stop you. You are a smart person, but you don’t see your own weakness. People ignore or instantly delete your e-mails. Over the course of your career, your specialty knowledge and knack for being long-winded impede your career growth.

3.Callousness
• Issue: You are selfish and don’t respect people’s time. Even though you are in a hurry when people speak to you, time stands still when you have the floor. When you ask, “Got a minute?” you really mean, “I will stay as long as possible.”
• Illustration: You approach Victor (who’s on a deadline) at his desk. You need to ask him an important question for a project you are working on. You peek in, make quick eye contact, and interrupt him. He stops what he’s doing, and you start talking. You have no clue that every word you say is making him late. He thinks, “You don’t care about anyone but yourself.” And he’s fuming inside.
• Impact: If people see that you don’t respect their time, they’ll stop respecting you. During your review, you get low scores from your peers.

It’s time to stop talking when you start enjoying what you’re saying

According to media expert Dan Broden, one of the best times to stop talking in an interview is when you’ve given a clear answer that you’re passionate about and would love to discuss more. Have the discipline to stop, let the reporter catch what you’re saying, and invite you to build on it. Call it a permission pause.

4.Comfort
• Issue: You let yourself get loose and wordy with people who know you. Familiarity breeds contempt and lack of brevity. You have a double standard: you’re succinct with important people, yet long-winded with those you know well.
• Illustration: It is late Friday afternoon, and you run into your boss coming back from a meeting. He asks you casually if you have weekend plans, and you have plenty. About midway through your 15-minute verbal tour, your boss starts to wonder, “Maybe I should not have asked—and taken a different route back from my meeting.”
• Impact: There’s a time and place for small talk. You must always be aware that what is exciting for you to share could be agony for someone else. You should treat everyone the same way; they are busy and begging you to be brief.

5.Confusion
• Issue: You choose to think out loud when it is still not clear to you what you are thinking—which is a big mistake. When ideas are still germinating, they will likely be out of order, indistinct, and blurry. And that’s okay, as long as you don’t trot them out in public.
• Illustration: You are a senior director at an engineering firm and love to brainstorm new ideas. Not all of them are spot on, but you love the creative process and cannot contain your enthusiasm when describing what might be the next big breakthrough. Those around you often sit in silence listening to your brain run wild and meander through the verbal trees.
• Impact: Even though your idea is still developing and in lots of pieces, people will make judgments about you and your abilities. You should choose carefully when and where—and to whom—you think out loud.

6.Complication
• Issue: You firmly believe that there are some things too complex to be simplified—even though the world highly values people who can simplify difficult concepts.
• Illustration: You get a phone call from a client asking about a delivery on a late order. Aware of all the background issues that are plaguing the project, you decide to give a lengthy answer to justify the unexpected delays. The client not only is unhappy but also is now worried that there might be quality issues if manufacturing is as complicated as the customer service rep’s explanations.
• Impact: When people want a simple answer, you need to give it to them. When they don’t get it, they lose patience and trust.

7.Carelessness
• Issue: You are often verbally sloppy and let your mind and message get mixed up, leaving people guessing and frustrated.
• Illustration: You have just seen a key client and want to debrief your boss on the status of a new contract, so you call him late one night. You weren’t expecting voicemail, but decide anyway to leave a message that is all over the board. You know it wasn’t the best, but you think you can clean up the mess tomorrow. You even send an e-mail to your boss (that is not much better). Your boss checks voicemail and e-mail later that night and loses confidence in your ability to communicate well with clients.
• Impact: Being mentally and verbally lazy sends a clear message: you might not be ready for the next assignment—or even be the right person for the job.

You need to hold yourself to a higher standard when you are dealing with people professionally: Do you get to the point?
It is your responsibility to change, so don’t expect others to put up with your seven capital sins. Consider this list to be a personal checklist of what you need to work on to become a lean communicator and a master of brevity. In all of these areas, there are opportunities for you to make an immediate change that translates into greater results for a variety of professional circumstances.

Long story, short. Brevity is difficult to master because there are many subtle, unconscious “seven capital sins” that can interfere.