Say Less. Communicate More.

I hated writing papers in school. 

It wasn’t really the writing I hated, but the prescribed page count. I never had enough to say, so I ended up saying the same thing over and over in different ways.

Now that I write for a living I have the opposite problem. I spend an immense amount of time trying to decide what NOT to say. In his book “The Elements of Story” New York Times editor Francis Flaherty writes, 

“A subject is not a story; it is many possible stories. To write is to choose, which is to exclude.” 

This principle holds true for all communication. Good communication relies both on what you include and exclude - what you edit matters just as much as what you compose.  

Don’t let the clarity of your message get lost in the clutter of information. Be careful. Be critical. Be concise. Be clear. 

What you don’t say is just as important as what you do. If you want to communicate more, you might need to say less.