QUESTION OF THE DAY
How long should your communication be?
100 WORDS - POSTCARD SIZE
People’s span of attention and focus will not go beyond this.
“I did not have enough time to write you a short letter,” said Blaise Pascal over 400 years ago. It’s all about how you balance the energy and cost of content creation and message consumption; on one side is the producer and on the other is the consumer (reader).
Looking at the graphic above - how do you communicate? Are you sending a postcard, or do you write a novel?
To make the content of your message concise, easy to understand, and relevant is very labor intensive. However, the more time you put into condensing it, the shorter time everyone else needs to grasp it. Adding bullet points, highlights, and a graphic can make it easier to comprehend. Remember, one picture is worth 1,000 words.
It takes 25 seconds to read 100 words and double that time to say them out loud. To write the words down takes five to 10 minutes, but if you want them to be fully comprehended, you need to craft them well, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour.
SEND PEOPLE A POSTCARD, NOT A BOOK
Write and talk in postcard-sized chunks: 100 spoken words = one postcard. People do not process more than what is on the postcard, so give them a chance to digest and react.
Success is never solely down to creative ideas or unique products or services. The difference between success and failure is actually down to the fundamentals of how you operationalize your business. Check our guide to the best operational and transformation practices, that people love.
THE SECRETS OF RUNNING BUSINESS WITH EASE
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