March 4, 2005, Newsletter Issue #8: Brevity Isn`t Always Best

Tip of the Week

BREVITY ISN`T ALWAYS BEST

This tip isn`t about writing longer sales copy. It`s not about sales. It`s about helping people understand.

Sometimes we try to express an idea or concept that seems simple to us, but other people find hard to grasp. The temptation is to just keep repeating ourselves in exactly the same way.

When your readers aren`t getting it, try to help them. This often means writing a little more. It also means exploring other ways to express the same point. People`s minds work in different ways. Sometimes, if you approach the idea from a very different direction, you`ll start expressing yourself in a way that a whole new group of people will understand.

I do this myself from time to time. I`ll write two sentences or two paragraphs, both trying to say the same thing, but in different ways. Sometimes my client will say, "Hey, you`re repeating yourself." But I`m not, I`m simply helping a larger group of people grasp what it is we are trying to say.

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