Summary and Action Plan

Let’s not forget the constant risk of reverting to bad, long-winded habits.
Since you’re aiming to master the art of clear and concise communications—something others crave—we need a practical and personal plan of action to succeed. Now that you’ve seen the underlying whys, hows, and whens to being lean communicators, I have formulated some TIPs (truths, implications, plans/practices) to help you deliver the real impact of less is more.
Here are several BRIEF principles to keep top of mind to help you remain on track. Read them over and pick a few that catch your eye and that will have the most immediate impact on you.

1.Your attention, please. Manage the Elusive 600 (the excess mental capacity we all have and where inattention lives); it’s your responsibility.
a. Truth: We are all inundated with information and distracted easily.
b. Implication: You’re responsible for managing people’s attention, that is, how they hear and understand you.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Watch a reality TV show for 5 minutes and write down or use a voice recorder to capture all the thoughts that race through your Elusive 600.
ii. During the next few conversations you have, note mentally where and when people’s Elusive 600 starts to leak (when it becomes too much information).

2.Why, why, why? Get to the reason quickly, and revisit it.
a.Truth: “Why?” is the most important question that’s frequently missing from our communication.
b. Implication: People will never get what you’re saying unless you tell them the reason it’s important.
c. Plan and practice:
i. The next time you need to deliver an important e-mail, first write down the reason why it’s important in one sentence—and include that in your e-mail.
ii. Have a mental alarm that frequently goes off to remind you to say “and this is important because …,” “and that’s why…,” or “the reason I am telling you this is…”
3.Map it out. Prepare what you’ll say on paper before you dare speak.
a.Truth: The path you plan to follow must be crystal clear before starting.
b. Implication: Map out a narrative flow to be sure you are clear of what level of details you need to include.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Before your next important telephone conversation, map out the three or four key ideas you want to share and how they’re connected. Adhere to the map during the call.
ii. Keep a folder of hard copy BRIEF Maps and Narrative Maps you use over the course of a month or quarter.
iii. Map out what you have learned from this book, and use it to tell someone why and how it has helped you

4.Give me a headline. Say it plainly, directly, and quickly.
a.Truth: Nobody wants to expend extra energy trying to figure out what you’re really trying to say.
b. Implication: State up front the headline that organizes what you’ll say, and then conclude with it as well.
c. Plan and practice:
i. When reading a newspaper or magazine, circle the headlines that catch your eye and write down why they appeal to you.
ii. The next time someone asks you a typical question (for example, “How was your weekend?”), give yourself no more than 30 seconds to deliver your headline and another 30 seconds to explain why.
iii. Read POP! by Sam Horn to gain deeper insight and learn how to make your ideas stand out.

5.Take time to trim. Just because you think it, doesn’t mean you have to say it.
a.Truth: An active mind shouldn’t be the engine that runs a fast mouth.
b. Implication: We need to be disciplined when tempted to say everything that comes to mind.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Have a conversation with a colleague or friend about his or her favorite movie or book, noting mentally how many details could be left out. Notice if you’ve left room for questions.
ii. Tell two people a personal story (the best live performance you’ve ever seen, how you met your best friend or spouse, etc.). Share every possible detail in one, and include only the vital details in the other.
iii. Go into your e-mail or YouTube and scan the first 20 listings you find. Note which ones are “too long; didn’t read” (TL; DR) or are “too long; didn’t watch” (TL; DW).

6.Listen closely. Active listening is vital to staying connected with your audience.
a.Truth: Effective communicators need to be great listeners.
b. Implication: If I listen closely, I will know what matters to others and consistently be able to manage their interest and attention.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Consider whether you can readily remember three things that seemed important after the next three meetings you attend.
ii. Find a short YouTube video from any TED conference (www.ted.com/talks) and write down a short list of what you heard, and also what you infer from it.
7.Just say no (to presentation mode). Avoid speeches and monologues; always keep your information personal, professional, and conversational.
a.Truth: Nobody wants to sit through a one-sided conversation and be talked at for a long time.
b. Implication: Keep people actively involved any time you have to present something formally.
c. Plan and practice:
i. After a presentation, ask your audience members to write down three things they heard you say and hand them in to you. Compare their feedback with your original map.
ii. When you create a PowerPoint, include a strong visual or tell a story or anecdote on at least half the slides.
iii. Search on YouTube for a presentation on “communication effectiveness” and pick the one that looks as if it’s the longest and least appealing. Watch it for its (painful) entirety.

8.Use the power of threes. Organize information in groups of three to keep order, attention, and balance.
a.Truth: There’s a reason Irish jokes have three guys and take place in a bar. b. Implication: Managing people’s attention means giving them fewer moving parts to process.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Find a joke online (maybe an Irish one; clean is preferable) that has three characters and that you enjoy. Tell it to three people you know.
ii. Think of the three most memorable things that happened on vacation or a long holiday. Write them down, and share them with someone when they ask.
9.Cut it in half. Whatever time you think you have, always take less.
a.Truth: Busy people notice it when meetings finish early and you give them time back.
b. Implication: We need to take less time than we’re allotted and make it noticeable that the impact stays the same.
c. Plan and practice:
i. The next time you have a block of time on an agenda, deliver your part in 50 percent less time than you’re allotted—without rushing.
ii. Go back in your e-mail Sent folder and find a long one you’ve written. Edit it down to half the size.

10.Just say it (the wrong way). Say something simply in your own words to ensure authenticity.
a.Truth: The language of business speak causes words to lose their meaning and takes too long to get to the point.
b. Implication: People tune you out when you sound like the corporate wordsmith.
c. Plan and practice:
i. At home, speak as people do in meetings at work and see how your kids and family look at you strangely. At work, speak in plain English (no business buzzwords) just as you do with friends and family on the weekend.
ii. Listen closely to how businesspeople speak, and write down words that feel like meaningless corporate speak. Develop an “off-limits” list.
iii. Find a person whom you respect and recognize him or her in person or in writing for what he or she means to you. Don’t prepare anything formal; just say what comes to your heart and mind—in less than a minute.
11.Paint a picture. Share a story, analogy, or even a hypothetical example to help people visualize what you mean.
a.Truth: Most people nowadays are visual thinkers.
b. Implication: We need to provide some creative visual element that helps illustrate our point.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Open every meeting or presentation with a short story or anecdote.
ii. Read Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam for deeper insight on how to use pictures or diagrams.
iii. Read Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds for broader treatment on how to improve your use of PowerPoint.
12.Pause, please. Stop talking to allow room for a response, comment, or question.
a.Truth: People don’t know when or how to stop talking, especially when there’s a lot to say.
b. Implication: Providing a pause not only makes it easier for others to get involved but also shows you if they’re interested or tracking.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Don’t be the first—or last—one to speak at your next few meetings.
ii. If people interrupt you, let them. They’re not listening anyways; they’re just waiting for their turn to talk.
iii. Don’t talk through the conclusion; just stop and leave dead silence until someone speaks.
13.Don’t use notes. Be willing to leave your prepared paperwork aside and just say what you mean to say.
a.Truth: Sticking too closely to notes or slides can cause you to not be yourself and get long-winded.
b. Implication: If you’re not willing and able to shred your notes, you may never be clear and concise.
c. Plan and practice:
i. During a presentation, ask the group if you can skip the PowerPoint and present without it.
ii. Prepare a BRIEF Map, commit it to memory, and use it to guide three distinct conversations with someone (coworker or client). Don’t have it within arm’s reach, however. Compare your debrief with your map afterward.

14.Don’t get too comfortable. Cut it short whenever you’re on a roll.
a.Truth: When you start thinking that you’re irresistibly interesting, it’s well beyond the time to end.
b. Implication: If you want to leave them wanting more, you need to say less.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Talk to someone about a personal passion or hobby of yours, but don’t speak for any longer than 30 seconds without pausing and having them join in.
ii. Watch a TED Talk video and note how long you listen before you understood the speaker’s point. Notice as well where you think the speaker could have stopped.
15.Put it on a cracker. Don’t cook up a verbal meal; first serve a short summary to test your audience’s appetite.
a.Truth: Quality is more valued than quantity.
b. Implication: You can be certain if people are following only if they tell you so.
c. Plan and practice:
i. During your next business call, take extensive notes and prepare a BRIEF Map summary that you can deliver to someone in 2 minutes or less.
ii. Use a Narrative Map to summarize your favorite book or movie. Use it to share the information with someone in less than 5 minutes and see if you can get him or her to read or watch it.
16.Nobody cares unless you do. Remind yourself that if you’re not passionate, nobody else will be.
a. Truth: Some of the best joke tellers start snickering in the middle of their material.
b. Implication: You have to make a conscious decision to be all in.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Ask someone you work with or know personally about a favorite childhood memory, and notice how he or she gets excited telling it to you. Let the person talk as long as he or she wants.
ii. Write a letter to the editor of a publication about a topic that you are passionate about. Map it first and keep it to fewer than 200 words. Get it published on the first attempt.
iii. Pick up the phone and call someone that has made an impact on your career to thank him or her.
17.Make sure no assembly is required. Make it easy to listen and understand by giving all the essential elements logically organized.
a. Truth: Nobody likes assembling toys or bikes on Christmas Eve, and people don’t enjoy exerting energy assembling random words and thoughts.
b. Implication: Provide the right level of detail to create the easiest possible consumption.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Make your 11th grade English teacher proud by outlining daily. Start with updates, meetings, and important e-mails.
ii. Try to maintain only Level 1 details for a day, using Level 2 details sparingly. Avoid all Level 3 details entirely.
iii. Watch a talk show interview and note all Level 3 details that guests include.
18.Tell versus sell. While people hate being sold something, they do love stories.
a.Truth: Buyer’s remorse happens when you fear you were convinced to do something you didn’t at first understand.
b. Implication: Rediscover the elements of solid storytelling and tell a story whenever possible.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Develop three success stories that explain what you and your company do, and share one the next time someone asks about your job.
ii. Ask someone to describe his or her best and/or worst selling experience. Listen actively, map it out, and share the stories with someone else later.
19.What’s in it for me? There always needs to be a payoff. Know what it is, and deliver it.
a.Truth: It’s natural to listen and constantly wonder, “How does this affect me?”
b. Implication: You need to deliver a payoff like a punch line at the end or a headline at the beginning.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Tell a joke and get comfortable seeing how the punch line is felt with immediate laughter.
ii. Always ask before writing an e-mail: what’s in it for the receiver(s)? Why should he or she read this? Include that reason in the correspondence.
20.Commit to clear and concise. Success means deciding to be disciplined.
a.Truth: Brevity shows respect and always creates a positive response.
b. Implication: If you want to make a bigger impact, decide to give your audience less.
c. Plan and practice:
i. Practice, practice, practice. Embrace and write down at least three of these TIPs.
ii. Tell people you’re reading this book as a way to increase your accountability.
iii. Be a model of BRIEF and see it spread. Thank you for investing the time and attention to absorb the insights of BRIEF. I’m committed to seeing a shift through teaching and evangelizing what’s been shared here.
The impact of BRIEF starts here with you when it’s lived every day.
Be better. Be brief.