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Brevity is the soul of wit.
After a quarter of strategic communications, and
many quotes like this, we all understand the importance of being concise.
But how many of you feel truly confident that you can be as precise, and
as succinct as you like to be?
Raise your hands.
Good, so that means there's room for our presentation.
>> [LAUGH] >> So this is a we did of the class,
based on the papers you have submitted.
So as you can see, many of us are still using more words than we like.
So why is it so difficult to be concise?
In Joseph McCormick's book Brief,
he identifies five capital sins that hinders
us from being as concise as we like to be.
As I enact these with Brian and Riche,
I invite you to think about whether any of these apply to you.
So the first is confidence.
>> I know the materials so well, I could talk about it for days.
>> Save us some time, and don't.
>> [LAUGH] >> The next is cowardice
>> I'm just so afraid, there's so
many perspectives out there.
>> Please, take a stand, and tell us what you really think, comfort.
>> The sound of my voice is so soothing.
>> [LAUGH] >> I could go on and on.
>> [LAUGH] >> Do you have the discipline to press
the stop button?
Next, confusion.
>> Wait, wait, just bear with me.
I have to just think about this for a while.
>> Well, your mind is a mess.
Do you really have to share that with us?
>> [LAUGH] >> Complication.
>> This is a complex topic.
You can't describe it easily.
>> But it's your job to make it simple for us, so I'm sorry.
So basically, take a moment, and
see if you identify with any of the five capital sins that we just connected.
If you do,
then the first step you can take to its condition is to change your mindset.
So what we're going to do next is to give you some concrete tools that you
can practice to make your sentences shorter, more clear, and more powerful.
And these are things that you can do immediately today
after you leave the room.
So that it becomes a daily habit to make your communication more compelling.
Rebecca will first start with structure,
which is about where you're going with the communication.
And why, before Riche and Brian will share a language, and how you get there.
>> Let's start with the prince of pithy statements, the Cheshire Cat.
Would you tell me please where I ought to go from here?
>> That depends a lot on where you want to get to.
>> I don't much care where.
>> Then it doesn't matter which way you go.
>> As the Cheshire Cat teaches us,
if we don't know our destination, then it's hard to get there.
If we don't know our structure and our communication, it's hard to be concise.
Structure is important, and helps you share everything you want to share, but
nothing more.
I'll share three tools to help you structure for concision.
The first one is the BRIEF Map.
The next two are companion tools, headlines and why, why, why.
The BRIEF Map helps you prepare to be concise,
by focusing on the most important ideas you need to share.
That way, you're able to combat the confusion sin.
The B stands for background.
What context do you need to establish?
The R is relevance.
What is the reason that you are sharing this?
I'll dive more into R with the why, why, why tool.
The I is information.
What are the key ideas you need to pass on?
The E is ending.
How will you conclude?
And the F is follow-up.
What questions might need to be asked?
What questions do you need to ask?
The good news of BRIEF is that it's simple.
You can jot it on a piece of paper right before you're about to walk in to
an important conversation, and that way, you're structured for concision.
Let's try an example, JD.
I know I've missed class every Friday this quarter.
This is important, because you and I both care about my learning.
The thing is, I've had a doctor's appointment every Friday in Tahoe.
>> [LAUGH] >> I would like to have these absences
excused.
Do you need a doctor's note?
>> Absolutely.
>> [LAUGH] >> BRIEF, in this situation,
helped me prepare for a conversation that was a little bit scary.
And made sure I shared just the right amount of information, and
got a clear response, even if not the one I was hoping for.
>> [LAUGH] >> In that conversation,
I might have had a headline, I'm Trying to Recover from Abysmal Attendance.
A headline helps you focus on the most important idea in your message,
a headline is easy to use.
As you leave today, you could practice headlines.
On your way to lunch, someone might ask you, what are you doing this weekend?
Practice headlines by starting with your headline in your answer to your friend.
You'll get used to beginning, and sometimes ending your messages with
headlines to keep you focused and avoiding the sin of confusion.
Lastly, I want to talk about why, why, why?
Why is one of the most important questions in our communication.
Far too often, we forget to share the reason why we're communicating.
Try using phrases such as this matters ,because, we care about this because,
and that will help you focus on why you are communicating.
Practice this today.
When you take out your computer for
your next email, write down a quick sentence of why you're writing that email.
Make sure you include it somewhere in the body of your message.
With these tools for concision, you will find that you are able to structure and
follow the Cheshire Cat's advice to know where you want to go.
>> Now, structure is knowing what you're going to say.
Language is more of how you're going to say it.
Now, we try to aim for less words per sentence, and the target is 17.
So how do we attempt to declutter our sentences?
Well, we have three common key tips for
you to immediately declutter your sentences.
One is avoiding jargon, second is avoiding phrases, and third is avoiding adverbs.
We hate adverbs.
First, avoiding jargon, this is very common at the GSB.
We love jargons, because we think it makes it sound so smart.
But honestly, the only time we ever use it is if we get called in strategy class.
[LAUGH] >> No idea what to do.
One story I will share is when I was interviewing for a startup,
I tried to ask the founder, how is your company actually doing?
He pauses and says, well, we ran into a negative cash flow position for
five consecutive years.
And I thought to myself, what does that mean?
After five seconds, I realized, he's just trying to say, we are bankrupt.
>> [LAUGH] >> And for my management consulting
friends out there, what does it actually mean to boil the ocean?
>> [LAUGH] >> I said I don't know
what it means [INAUDIBLE].
>> [LAUGH] >> Second,
avoid phrases when a word is all you need.
It's sort of like eating fries in or eating a bag of Doritos.
Just because you can, just because there's more, it doesn't mean it's high in
nutritional value, probably not good for you, even though it's tempting.
So one example would be the current situation will adversely impact
our profits.
But all you could just say is the simple word.
Last point on adverbs, our group hates adverbs.
We spent 30 minutes instead of preparing for this presentation talking about, and
ranting about adverbs.
And Stephen King agrees with that, saying- >> [LAUGH]
>> That the road to hell is paved with
adverbs.
He also called it a dandelion.
There's nothing wrong with a dandelion.
If it's just one, it looks pretty nice.
But if you let it be, it'll grow and fester, and suddenly,
all your sentences will be filled with adverbs.
So let's give a common example that we here at GSB normally say.
Hi, my name is Riche.
I'm currently an MBA student at Stanford.
Well, obviously, I am currently an MBA student at Stanford.
So why not just take that word out, and keep it simple?
Second example, I meet with my coach every day when I was in high school, telling me,
Riche, let's start with the most basic fundamentals.
But aren't all fundamentals actually basic?
>> [LAUGH] >> So
if you just remember these three things, avoid jargons, avoid phrases, and
avoid adverbs, you can immediately declutter your sentences.
>> So now that we've purged our sentences of clutter, we can focus on the verbs.
Riche has taught us that adjectives throw fat, verbs build muscle.
Verbs energize and tighten each of your sentences.
When you use a verb, your sentences and your ideas leap off the page, and
into your audience's imagination.
But too often, we use weak, limp verbs.
I'm going to talk about two common sins, call them passive verbs, and hidden verbs.
Now, passive verbs make your sentences long,
confusing, and boring.
We collected 20 recent papers from generous donors in this classroom, and
here's what we found.
The passive voice was deployed in one out of six sentences written by this class.
Now- >> [LAUGH]
>> There's nothing technically
grammatically wrong with the passive voice.
We hear it all the time in business.
Here's one example.
But isn't the second version so much shorter and easier to understand?
So why do we use the passive voice?
Well, it sounds authoritative.
It can also feel safer.
You don't have to assign blame or responsibility.
But what it really communicates is sin number two, cowardice.
And so to tie it all, it also can be ineffective.
If your audience is spending time detangling your language,
that's time they're not spending digesting your message.
Okay, so to bring this together ,when you use the passive voice,
you run the risk that your message will be lost under a pile of unclear wording.
Your tone can be interpreted as pompous, and you may be perceived as cowardly.
And finally lives, organizations, and the world.
>> [LAUGH] >> May not be changed.
>> [LAUGH] >> So be bold, be clear,
use active verbs.
The second thing that we do to drain the energy out of our sentences is use
hidden verbs.
What's a hidden verb?
A hidden verb is a verb that's disguised as a noun.
>> [LAUGH] >> This is our last one.
>> [LAUGH] >> No more passive voice.
>> [LAUGH] >> A hidden verb looks like a noun.
Here's an example.
The responsibility of Austin's department is the collection of accounts.
He strips away the disguise here.
All we're saying is Austin's department collects accounts.
In each of our papers, all 20 of them, we found hidden verbs, they're everywhere.
And so how do you find them?
Two clues.
First, look for words that end in -ion, that's a good hint.
The second is look for to be verbs, any form of it, was, is, will be.
When those are together, there's a good sense that there's a hidden verb there.
And those add extra bulk to our sentence, they clutter your communication.
And so when you change your nouns into verbs,
your sentences become more concrete, more vigorous.
And that's what we want to do for crisp, clean,
focused communication, energize your verbs.
So that's all there is.
Communicating concisely is difficult for some of us, more than others
>> [LAUGH]
>> But there are skills that each of us
can practice today, the second this presentation finishes, and
we all get lunch >> [LAUGH]
>> All you have to do
is manage your mindsets, structure your thinking,
declutter your language, and energize your verbs.
As you practice this, you'll notice immediate and dramatic improvement.
You'll also gain the confidence to practice a fifth skill,
which is often the most challenging of all, knowing when to stop talking.
>> [LAUGH]
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