Good communication is a must have skill If you want to be an effective leader, the time and effort you put into improving your communication skills is one of the best investments that you can make in your career.

Long-Windedness Issues

One of the worst possible impressions people can make on other people in terms of their communications is being overly talkative.

“Well, some people are long-winded, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do a good job.” The problem is that, at a minimum, it signals that you're not good at picking up on conversational cues, and it raises doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly.

Read - Long-Windedness: A Job Interview Killer!

You may be long-winded for various reasons, maybe you're insecure in social gathering, self-center, or you want to show everything you know. Also, one might mistake talking for adding value by talking to much but in reality they don't.

Some people think they're a good communicator just because they can talk!! Actually talking more not necessairly means a good communication. Also some people do think if they talk, then that means they can dominate the situation or are at the center of the stage.

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10
1 = Very Concise
5 = A little of both
10 = Very long-winded

Ideally you should be less than 5.

Commit to conciseness - Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.

Takeaways

1. Figure out why you sometimes talk too much
2. Gauge your long-windedness
3. Commit to practisicing the tips in the remaining lessons.

But why do you want to be concise and clear in your communication?

1. People will play attention to what you say.
2. People will remember what you say.
3. You will have more impact.
4. You can lead more effectively.

Concise Messages

Keep your overall message tight. Put extra effort to compress your message .

I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long instead. Mark Twain

Things to do

1. Skip to the heart of the message.
2. Skip the preamble.
3. Skip the qualifications.
4. Skip the backstory.
5. Skip thinking aloud.
6. Make it a dialogue, not a monologue.
7. End the presentation concisely and then zip it.
8. Finish just under time.

Concise message really helps with delivering effective communication. Just look at this message "So I was driving around the other day doing, you know, errands and what not. I saw cargo by that looked just like yours. At least it looked like your car to me. Do you drive a Toyota? Anyway, I saw this car and it made me think of you. You know what? it might have been a Honda, not a Toyota. Their SUVs looks so similar. Long story short, it made me think of you, and that's why I called. It's been too long. We should get together again to talk about that project. I was wondering if you'd like to put something on the calendar. You know, it might have been a Subaru."

It's no brainer that this is clearly not a concise message. Instead of saying all that one could simple say

"It's been too long. We should get together again to talk about that project. I was wondering if you'd like to put something on the calendar."

and that's it. The rest of it preamble, chatter and thinking out loud.

Takeaways

1. Skip to the heart of the message.
2. Make your point and then zip it.
3. Finish under time.

I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long instead. Mark Twain

Concise Sentences

Use short sentences.

Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall Oliver Wendell Holmes

Short Sentences sound like

1. News headlines
2. Items in a bulleted list
3. One-line jokes

Try using few words as possible without sounding too cliped. Maybe just use one sentence with some details.

Things to do

1. Shave words
2. Shave clutter
3. Use plain language

For example, read the two sentences are see which one really sticks? Sentence1: "If you are bored and disgusted by politics, and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched establishments of the two major parties, who please, rest assured, are not dumb, and are keenly aware that is in their interest to keep you disgusted and board and cynical and to give you every possible reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day."

Sentence2: "If you don't vote, you don't matter"

Which sentence sticks?