Key Competency #5: Brevity

If there's one thing I struggle with most when writing these blog posts, its knowing how long to make them. If I make them too long, I risk the reader losing attention. On the other end of the spectrum, making them too short runs the risk of not explaining something thoroughly enough.

In most cases, I think making them shorter is probably better. Pretty much everything life is better when its shorter, hence why I'm labeling "brevity" as a key competency.
How many of you have sat in a meeting that has gone on for far too long? By the end of the meeting, you can tell you're not the only one who feels that way. Glazed looks pepper the crowd, with many simply staring down into their "laps" (aka phones).

This is one of the points that the Heath brothers drive in their excellent book, Made to Stick. If you want your idea to stick in the minds of your listeners, it can't be long form. People just don't retain information that well. The very first "S" in the Heath brothers' SUCCESs acronym is "simple".

To quote the infamous Michael Scott, we should keep another acronym in mind: KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

And keeping my own advice in mind, I'm going to end this post here. Peace!

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Pay Attention to Subtle Physical Reactions

Ever clench your fists in anger? Chuckle out loud when reading a joke? Sigh when thinking about something disappointing? Often, we don't do these things intentionally. These are subconscious reactions to things around us. Think about it. It would be absurd to think to yourself, "I thought that was funny, so I am purposefully going to laugh out loud." After all, we don't laugh out loud at 100% of the things we think are funny. (You all who use the LOL acronym in your text messages know this well!)

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If you think you've seen this book before, you're probably not mistaken. It's not a new book at all. It came out in 2007, and the first time I read this book was actually back in 2011. For personal reasons, I chose to pick it back up, and I'll talk about that in a separate post. Having been five years since my last read, I'm glad I dug this back up. It's a pretty teeny book, as you can see in the image below. A person can definitely breeze through the entire book in an hour or two. Anyway, this is a book review! How does this book hold up in the nine years since it's initial release? Let's get into it.

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Hey there folks. You know that I manage another blog, Engedi Artistry, and when I conceived this post, I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted it here or on that blog. I ended up putting it over there, but I still think it's a great post for the Adulting 101 series. Instead of duplicating the post over here, I'm doing something kind of lazy and just linking this post to that one. I know, I know, this is uncharacteristic of me, but I need a break! Hope you all have a great weekend. LINK: What's in My Work Backpack

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