The power of ‘less is more’ explained

One of the key messages I share with my sales presentation and senior executive clients is, ‘Less is more’. That is, being able to convey your thoughts with less words, has more impact. (ie. than needing more words to convey your thoughts). William Strunk Jr. and EB White’s mantra around this idea, from their book, The Elements of Style is, ‘Omit needless words’.

I mention this because of a recent email I received from U.S.A. consultant Alan Weiss, entitled, ‘Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’. In the below Memo, Weiss touches on the above ‘Less is more’ and ‘Omit needless words’ theme.

“This week’s focus point: Brevity isn’t merely the soul of wit (Hamlet). We seem obsessed with telling people everything we know rather than what they need to know (hence, all those boring undergraduate lectures). Keep two factors in mind in business: speed and brevity. The more quickly you help others, the more valuable you are. Of course, that entails the suppression of ego and a true focus on helping, and a strong self-esteem that doesn’t require that you continually prove how smart you are. Enough said.” (you can contact Weiss at info@summitconsulting.com http://www.contrarianconsulting.com)

The ‘how to apply’ for this post: In an interaction or sales presentation in the next seven days, aim to share a key ‘less is more’ message, right at the start of the interaction/presentation.