Simplicity in Business Writing
Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen proffers an interesting question about slide presentations that applies equally well to our everyday business writing. He asks: “What can you do to consciously reduce the nonessential?” In other words, how can you trim your language and messages so that they’re “simple yet not watered down, trivialized, or compromised?”
Reynolds gives us a taste of this “elimination of the superfluous” by sharing the story of a fish monger who pares down the words on his store’s sign until he realizes that they’re entirely unnecessary - the store, by its very nature (and odor), speaks for itself.
I really like this post, story and the accompanying comments thread because they highlight how simplicity can be a powerful ally in our effort to create memorable communications.
Dan Pink takes another look at simplicity in his Wired Magazine article on Pecha Kucha. Pecha Kucha (the Japanese term for chatter) is a streamlined form of presentation design and delivery. It requires communicators to convey their message using 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. That’s a whopping six minutes and 40 seconds for the entire presentation.
Pink, an accomplished writer and speaker, tries his hand at Pecha Kucha and posts the clip of his endeavor. It shows that achieving this kind of simplicity when communicating is not as simple as it seems.
