How to Be Concise
Plan before you speak., Know your audience., Convey the central idea first., Skip unnecessary details., Use active descriptions., Stay focused., Pay attention to your speech., Practice speaking concisely.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Plan before you speak.
Choose what you want to say before you say it.
This will help you convey the most important points without beating around the bush.
If you are giving a speech, write out a script and stick to it.
If you are speaking off the cuff, take a brief moment to plan out the most important parts of what you want to say.
Think about how you would say something if you only have a few minutes.
What do you need to include? What can you leave out? For example, if you are giving a project update in a meeting, you probably don’t need to discuss all of the steps you took to work on something.
Instead, talk about the results that you’ve achieved on the project so far. -
Step 2: Know your audience.
It’s important to know who is listening to you speak.
This will help you determine how much explanation you need to give, or how you can cut corners.
For example, if you are talking with a colleague who understands your work, you don’t need to spend a lot of time explaining basic concepts.
If you are speaking to a crowd who is unfamiliar with your work, you might need to describe more. , Start your talk with the most important idea.
Give your audience the main headline of what you want to say.
This also helps your audience follow your line of thinking.
Your most important point won’t get lost.
People tend to listen most closely to the first 30 seconds of a speech, so make this first part count., Think about the details that the listener needs to know.
Unless it is directly relevant, the listener probably doesn’t need to know the life history of someone in your story, or the color of a dog’s collar.
Leave out these types of details. , Choose meaningful words that say a lot.
Stay away from passive sentence constructions, such as “There are” and “We have.” Make declarative statements that get to the point immediately.
Choose ways of speaking that pack a lot of meaning in fewer words. , Try not to get distracted when you’re speaking.
Stay on topic without going off on a tangent about something not directly related to the topic at hand. , Start listening to how long it takes you to get to the point.
This will help you start figuring out where you can trim words and tendencies from your speech.
Then you can work on being concise.Do people often ask you to repeat yourself? Do you often use “What I mean is…” when speaking to clarify your points? Do you use words like “um” and “uh” a lot? , When you are confident with your speaking skills, you are more likely to speak concisely and directly.
If you feel nervous or you lack confidence, your speech may start to fill with “ums” and “uhs.” Try practicing in front of a trusted friend.
This person can give you feedback on your speech. -
Step 3: Convey the central idea first.
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Step 4: Skip unnecessary details.
-
Step 5: Use active descriptions.
-
Step 6: Stay focused.
-
Step 7: Pay attention to your speech.
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Step 8: Practice speaking concisely.
Detailed Guide
Choose what you want to say before you say it.
This will help you convey the most important points without beating around the bush.
If you are giving a speech, write out a script and stick to it.
If you are speaking off the cuff, take a brief moment to plan out the most important parts of what you want to say.
Think about how you would say something if you only have a few minutes.
What do you need to include? What can you leave out? For example, if you are giving a project update in a meeting, you probably don’t need to discuss all of the steps you took to work on something.
Instead, talk about the results that you’ve achieved on the project so far.
It’s important to know who is listening to you speak.
This will help you determine how much explanation you need to give, or how you can cut corners.
For example, if you are talking with a colleague who understands your work, you don’t need to spend a lot of time explaining basic concepts.
If you are speaking to a crowd who is unfamiliar with your work, you might need to describe more. , Start your talk with the most important idea.
Give your audience the main headline of what you want to say.
This also helps your audience follow your line of thinking.
Your most important point won’t get lost.
People tend to listen most closely to the first 30 seconds of a speech, so make this first part count., Think about the details that the listener needs to know.
Unless it is directly relevant, the listener probably doesn’t need to know the life history of someone in your story, or the color of a dog’s collar.
Leave out these types of details. , Choose meaningful words that say a lot.
Stay away from passive sentence constructions, such as “There are” and “We have.” Make declarative statements that get to the point immediately.
Choose ways of speaking that pack a lot of meaning in fewer words. , Try not to get distracted when you’re speaking.
Stay on topic without going off on a tangent about something not directly related to the topic at hand. , Start listening to how long it takes you to get to the point.
This will help you start figuring out where you can trim words and tendencies from your speech.
Then you can work on being concise.Do people often ask you to repeat yourself? Do you often use “What I mean is…” when speaking to clarify your points? Do you use words like “um” and “uh” a lot? , When you are confident with your speaking skills, you are more likely to speak concisely and directly.
If you feel nervous or you lack confidence, your speech may start to fill with “ums” and “uhs.” Try practicing in front of a trusted friend.
This person can give you feedback on your speech.
About the Author
Andrew Rogers
Creates helpful guides on organization to inspire and educate readers.
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