The Art of Being Brief and Concise!

Sometimes, challenges come when we least expect them. One morning, just as I was settling into my routine, I received a message:

"Can you prepare a short status update for the leadership meeting? You have two days."

At first, I wasn’t too worried. After all, we had been working on this initiative for months, collecting valuable insights and making steady progress. There was plenty of material to pull from. But as I started drafting the presentation, reality hit me, how do you fit months of work into just 15 minutes?

I stared at my screen, scrolling through endless notes, reports, and updates. Every detail seemed important, every milestone worth mentioning. I knew the facts inside out, but shaping them into a clear, impactful story? That was another challenge altogether.

I tried simplifying, rewriting, reshuffling. Yet, the more I trimmed, the more it felt like I was losing the essence of the message. Instead of becoming shorter, the presentation kept growing, more slides, more explanations, more background information. Our organization thrives on analysis and details. Giving them anything less felt incomplete.

Then came the review session. After scanning through my slides, a seasoned manager gave me a piece of advice that stuck with me:

"Max three sentences per slide. Be brief and concise, otherwise it’s just noise and no one will remember what you said."

That moment was an eye-opener. I had been so focused on including everything that I had forgotten the golden rule of communication: less is more. The best messages aren’t the ones packed with information, they’re the ones that stick.

It’s a lesson worth remembering. No matter how experienced we are, we all face situations where we must rethink how we communicate. Sometimes, the hardest thing isn’t gathering knowledge, it’s knowing what to leave out. In today’s fast-paced world, people rarely have time for long explanations. What they need is a story they can remember, a message that resonates.

And so, as I finalized my presentation, I took a deep breath, trimmed down the excess, and embraced simplicity. Because if we truly want to make an impact, we must learn the art of being brief and to the point.