How to learn to express your thoughts not only clearly but also briefly

The ability to express your thoughts clearly and concisely is not just an advantage but an absolute necessity. Firstly, it will help you establish mutual understanding with your loved ones and make your relationship more open and trusting. You will be sure that the person understood you correctly, saw or heard in your words what you wanted to convey to him.

Secondly, the ability to express your thoughts concisely and clearly will help you in your work moments. The ability to express your ideas in an accessible way is the key to successful communication. You will not be given several chances to convince your superiors or colleagues of the need for this or that action.

And thirdly, the ability to speak little but with meaning will help you save a lot of time and effort. With these resources, you can be directed to something more substantial. Some specific tools and techniques will allow you to hone your speech skills. In this article, we will look at the main ones.

5 tools to express your thoughts not only clearly but also briefly

1. Be as specific as possible in your statements

Abstract reasoning and vague formulations make it difficult for you to convey anything to a person. The more concretely you express your thoughts, the fewer sentences it takes and the easier it is perceived by the listener or reader. Avoid general phrases and replace them with more precise ones — the specifics will give weight to your words and save time. Using specific examples, facts, and figures to back up your words is best.

Such details make your message more transparent and credible. In addition, the specifics help the listener or reader visualize what you are talking about, significantly simplifying the understanding process. Ask yourself, “What exactly do I want to say?” “What specific examples confirm this?” “What details will help you better understand my thought?” and use the answers to these questions in your presentation.

2. Use the active voice instead of the passive

The active and passive voices are two different grammatical constructions that affect the perception of text and speech. In the active voice, a subject or object comes first, and the verb indicates what it does. Example: “A writer wrote a book.” In the passive voice, the emphasis shifts — now, the subject or object does not act but is exposed. Example: “A writer wrote the book.”

Using an active voice makes the text more dynamic, energetic, and understandable for most people. The passive voice often makes the text vague, formal, and difficult to understand. Abusing it leads to your speech becoming too loaded with many constructions that divert the reader’s or listener’s attention from the most important thing.

3. Focus on the key ideas

Developing the ability to highlight the main thing is essential to achieve conciseness. Imagine a kind of pyramid: at the very bottom — a lot of details, facts, examples, and at the top — the essence. Yes, it is based on a foundation of various data, but you must convey precisely the idea. Visit. A F N I N I K .C O M. For the full article. Your task is to ignore insignificant or uninteresting information for others and instead focus on the top of the pyramid. To do this, you need to define the very purpose of what you want to say. The best question to ask yourself is: what do I want to achieve?

The content of the text or speech depends on what you need from a group of people or a specific person. Filter out everything that does not meet your goals or bring you closer to the desired result. It is also helpful to break down your thoughts into key theses, each of which should be formulated as clearly and concisely as possible. You don’t need to dump a mountain of information on the listener or reader — it’s enough to convey a few memorable basic ideas to him.

4. Keep your sentences simple and short

As a rule, you use compound sentences to appear brighter and more convincing. But these two goals don’t always go together. Yes, you may be able to show off your intelligence, but at the same time, you will miss the chance to negotiate with your interlocutor to convince him that your ideas are significant. Complex, multi-part sentences, overloaded with participial and adverbial phrases, are not perceived or remembered.

It doesn’t matter in what form they are presented — both in the text and speech, it is equally difficult for a person to get to the point through a jumble of words. Learn to break long sentences into several short and simple ones. This way, you can convey the essence in a much more accessible and understandable way.

5. Edit and shorten

If you’re going to send someone a text, allow yourself to ruthlessly scribble or delete anything that seems unimportant to you at the draft stage. Before sharing your thoughts, ideas, or problems with anyone, take a 5-10-minute break and start methodically cleaning out each sentence. What you should get rid of first: Stationery and stamps: avoid using boilerplate and formal phrases. All you can achieve with their help is to make your text dry and lifeless.

There is no need to complicate speech artificially: instead of “to increase efficiency,” write “to improve,” instead of “as part of the project,” use the phrase “while working on the project.” Clerical statements make the text heavier and often conceal the absence of any specifics. Repetitions: try to understand if you repeat the same thought in different words. If so, choose the most accurate and concise expression and eliminate all the others.

Introductory words and constructions: “Of course,” “certainly,” “perhaps,” and other introductory words often do not carry any useful information. Moreover, they only distract the reader’s or listener’s attention and prevent them from understanding the main idea. Use them only when necessary; for example, you can emphasize nuances. Adjectives and adverbs: Don’t get carried away with using them — they can make the text blurry and less convincing.

Choose only those adjectives and adverbs that are necessary to clarify the meaning. Don’t be afraid to delete entire paragraphs if they don’t add value to your text or speech. Remember that brevity is the sister of talent. Every text element should work for you, help you achieve your desired goal, and be supported by arguments and facts. You will be surprised how many words and sentences can be removed without losing the main idea and persuasiveness.