RESPECT THE BREVITY

RESPECT THE BREVITY

For communicating   effectively a good skill is required......be it  a face to face oral communication or written communication.

 Readers digest in one of  their books mentioned  ABC of communications are

A   for  Accuracy  
B   for Brevity and     
C  for  clarity.

Some time when one wants to be diplomatic   less clarity or less accuracy  is intentionally planned ,but that type of communication is at much higher level.

To communicate in brief is the skill  and it is not easy  to acquire this skill . If one is too brief  not only clarity  will be reduced but you will appear curt  and hurt the receiver.

 On the other hand if one keeps on chattering  not only brevity is lost but entire purpose of communication will be lost as receiver will loose the interest.

For communicating effectively there are many factors involved including with whom you are communicating,time and place ,when you want to convey and what could be likely repercussions .

what to do then ? How many words one should use to communicate effectively ?

There are no definite answers to these things.

 Some time a sheer touch or hug will communicate without even using a single word ! In other cases one has to tell some stories and give examples to enhance the effectiveness of communication.

In Business letters ,  when one writes, number of words in any sentence  should be optimum.(maximum13 minimum 6 or 7) .

There are two aspects of message first is 'what you want to tell ' and second is 'how you tell it'. If lesser than 6 words in many sentences are used ,quite often it will irritate the reader. If more than 14 or 15 words are used in the sentences reader may get lost. 

Secondly ,it is advised to use simple words and avoid less commonly known words to enhance the clarity. Remember reader must not be required to spend too much energy on ' what Is communicated ' and that is possible if how one communicates is less complicated.

Business letter is not the place to display one's vocabulary !
.
  A good picture speaks thousands  of words. So communication can be brief and to the point when one uses appropriate picture or drawings.

 Remember R.K. Laxman's cartoons.

 These days one can even use video clips.

While accuracy feature is like hygine in communication, to give clarity the best strategy is to be brief.

I think I also should limit myself and respect the brevity !

        ---------Rajendra Phansalkar
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