Say the most important thing first. Don’t preface it, don’t lead up with all the why’s. Just say it, don’t bury the “lede.” Then follow up with why it’s important, and context, and all the ways you want to go deeper for the people who care about going deeper.
There’s no time to waste. We don’t have the patience or desire to read or listen for long so it’s best to just get to the point. Then, the ones that are interested can go deeper. By all means, make it snappy but not so clever that it’s confusing. Just say it and make it short and powerful.
- We spend 26 seconds on average reading a piece of content
- We spend fewer than 15 seconds on web pages that we click
- Our brain decides in 17 milliseconds if we like what we clicked
- We don’t read, we scan
- We check our phones 344 times a day (VandeHei, Allen, and Schwartz, Smart Brevity)
At the end, remind them once again, what the biggest takeaway is. For this “thing” it’s that the most important thing you have to say should be the first thing you say.
If you like this, I highly recommend reading Smart Brevity. The print version is better than audible, IMHO.
If you’re struggling with getting attention with your marketing messages, schedule a Whiteboard Session.
