Mastering Concise Communication: Strategies and Frameworks

What is concise communication, and how do you get started? Many individuals I talk to discuss the need to communicate more concisely. Many share this is a desire through their self-critique from observing others who appear to do this well, and some share they have received specific feedback they need to change their communication to be concise.

If you search the internet, you will find a variety of “frameworks” to assist in developing communication techniques that can lead to becoming a concise communicator. The one key question I like to start with is not included in many of these, “𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆?”

If we start with this in mind, it leads to working on our concise thought in preparation. It forces us to focus, which is one of the keys to concise communication. Be straightforward on the topic and work to stay on point with the message. Eliminate the need to provide a lengthy “let me tell you why” or support with many bullet data points. Adding a reason and an example may be helpful to support your thought, but work to eliminate the extra – allow the receiver to ask for more if they have the need.

Two frameworks I see used and discussed often are PREP and the Three Cs.

𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑷 (𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕, 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕)

-Start with a 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕.

-Provide a 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 for the point.

-Offer an 𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 to support your reason

-Reiterate the 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 for emphasis

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝑪𝒔 (𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈)

-Ensure your communication is 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿, leaving no room for misunderstanding

-Be 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲 by using as few words as necessary

-Make it 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 by providing relevant evidence or reasons

Use of these methods may start you on the path to becoming an concise communicator.

Written by Steven Schultze