4 The Big Bang of Brevity
Long story, short.
Be disciplined, respectful, and well prepared, and your clients will thank you. A Success Story Not every executive has a bad experience when it comes to brevity. There are success stories that make an immediate impact during the course of busy people’s schedules. Here’s one.
I once worked with a finance executive named Edna, who told me about a positive experience she had with one of her consulting firms. She is a senior executive who operates at a fast pace and processes a ton of information every day—checking e-mails and answering phone calls and questions from her staff. She’s in high demand because she has a tremendous capacity to process and make quick decisions.
But like a lot of people, Edna can be easily distracted and inattentive. She has a short fuse and is very driven to get things done. To win with her, you have to capture her imagination and get to the point. She’s the face of today’s executive.

“The meetings that I have typically feel the same way. We sit down, there are introductions, a PowerPoint presentation, my texts start to come and the interruptions begin, people check their phones during the meeting, I check my e-mail, people zone in and out,” she said.
“However, I was surprised one day when my consulting company came in and happy to find that they’ve adapted to this new reality. The first thing they did was give me a very powerful and very clear executive summary—all of their findings right up front, with no ‘slow build.’
“They gave us the headline right out of the gate: ‘This is what we’ve found, and this is what we think you should do,’” Edna explained. “All of that happened within the first 5 or 10 minutes of the meeting. Even though I gave them an hour, they assumed they had to be done with all of the substantive conclusions and insights in the first few minutes. They really framed the headline right up front,” she said.
By serving the meat of their presentation first, the client ensured that Edna wasn’t lost when the initial interruption came with a knock at the door. “I already had a clear indication of the direction of the meeting before people started hovering outside my door,” she said. “I felt like I had what I needed.”
This sense of being concise carried over to the rest of Edna’s meeting. “Their PowerPoint presentation was much thinner, with only a dozen slides. They were not speaking to the slides, but with me,” Edna explained. “Every one had a strong headline and a strong visual.”
“What was the atmosphere like in the room?” I asked.
“Everybody was engaged in conversation. The consultants were talking with me, not presenting at me. They stopped talking and let me talk, which was really great for me. I felt like they wanted to have a discussion and listen more.”

“Did you get interrupted?”
“Yes, but when distractions came, I wasn’t even tempted to acknowledge them because I was so engrossed in the conversation we were having. I ignored the people at the door.”
The consultants also used lots of strong visuals, including a short video clip that illustrated a case study. According to Edna, “We talked for about 45 minutes, and they got to the point so quickly that they finished early.”
And this is their regular MO. “That’s just the way they operate,” Edna explained. “In every engagement, they are prepared to have an executive summary conversation with me as opposed to an hour-long presentation. I love talking to them.”
Edna also added their communication approach carries over to other interactions with the company: their calls are short, they are prepared, and they anticipate and invite her questions and give her time to process. And their e-mails are always tight.
“I actually look forward to meeting with them. It tends to be the highlight of my day, because they know how to get my attention,” Edna said. “Everybody on their team is like that. It’s a breath of fresh air.”
Long story, short. Be disciplined, respectful, and well prepared, and your clients will thank you.

Conversations always beat presentations.
Kenneth Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, said, “I saw a guy give a motivational speech recently. He had seven secrets to success, and it took him 45 minutes to do the first four. You could see the audience squirming in their seats. They were, like, ‘Oh God, there are three more?’” Talk with them, not at them. Give them a way to interact and participate.