Words, words, words! With all the various platforms for communication, we are inundated with words! Texts, emails, television, radio, streaming communications, books in print, books on audio, movies, YouTube . . . words are everywhere! However important words may be to our ability to communicate, sometimes there are just too dang many words!
I can talk with the best of them! I love speaking, teaching and training! My wife tells me that I have more words than the average woman – forget the average man! In reality, I could likely talk the varnish off of a chair if given the chance. I have to work hard to limit my use of words.
Whenever I listen to and observe comunicaitons from individuals and groups, I make a point to pay attention to the length or brevity of the message. Many times, the more powerful the message, the fewer the words. The more words used, the more shrouded the message becomes.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare says, “Brevity is the soul of wit . . .” which focuses on the idea that intelligent speech and writing should aim at using few words. Want a few examples of powerfully intelligent speech deliverd in a few words? How about the Gettysburg Address? Only 272 words in that amazing speech! The Declaration of Independence contains 1337 words, including the date and heading. President George Washington used only 135 words in his second inaugural speech. Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream,” speech is 1667 words long. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, he used only 12 words to immortalize that event! Get the picture? More words do not necessarily mean a more powerful message.
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce said, “It does not require many words to speak the truth.” I really like that! Far too often I hear politicians and preachers and pontifcators drone on and on spraying the public with an deluge of words. When this happens, I often wonder what they seek to hide. “It does not require many words to speak the truth!” Shakespeare is credited with another quote that points to the quandry that the use of too many words creates when again in Hamlet , we read, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much!” More words to cover a truth one would rather hide.
Here is the challenge . . . Work at creating your message in as few words as possible. If you can craft a message – any message – in as few words as possible, perhaps you will come off as being more honest and trustworthy. Give it a shot! Perhaps there is truth in “Less is More!
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
