How about KISS? Nope, Im not writing about: puckering up, my favorite milk chocolate candy, or an oddly dressed rock and roll band. Im writing about Keep It Short & Simple. KISS. My friend Bill is an accomplished public speaker. He gave a short talk recently about being brief and getting to the point. He used these examples about the power of short. Lincolns second inaugural address of only 701 words contains 505 one syllable words and 122 two syllable words.
The Gettysburg Address contains 266 words.
The Ten Commandments contains 297 words.
The Declaration of Independence contains 300 words.
The U. S. Government Order to Reduce the Price of Cabbage contains 26,911 words. You get the point. Practice keeping it simple this week. I just did in 134 words. Are you guilty of taking extra words to fill in the blanks when the blanks don't need filling in? Try using another acronym for being a better communicator. W.A.I.T. which stands for Why Am I Talking? A tendency to interrupt and fill in your own personal story before the speaker has concluded is both frustrating and rude in the mind of the speaker. The next time your voice seems to be dominating the conversation, ask yourself to WAIT. You aleady know what you know. Find out what others know, too. |
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