Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less

ISBN-13: 9781118704967 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 256 str.

Joseph McCormack

Opis

Get heard by being clear and concise The only way to survive in business today is to be a lean communicator. Busy executives expect you to respect and manage their time more effectively than ever. You need to do the groundwork to make your message tight and to the point. The average professional receives 304 emails per week and checks their smartphones 36 times an hour and 38 hours a week. This inattention has spread to every part of life. The average attention span has shrunk from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight in 2012. So, throw them a lifeline and be brief. Author Joe McCormack tackles the challenges of inattention, interruptions, and impatience that every professional faces. His proven B.R.I.E.F. approach, which stands for Background, Relevance, Information, Ending, and Follow up, helps simplify and clarify complex communication. BRIEF will help you summarize lengthy information, tell a short story, harness the power of infographics and videos, and turn monologue presentations into controlled conversations.

• Details the B.R.I.E.F. approach to distilling your message into a brief presentation
• Written by the founder and CEO of Sheffield Marketing Partners, which specializes in message and narrative development, who is also a recognized expert in Narrative Mapping, a technique that helps clients achieve a clearer and more concise message

Long story short: BRIEF will help you gain the muscle you need to eliminate wasteful words and stand out from the rest. Be better. Be brief.

Spis treści

Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Preface xvii

Part ONE
AWARENESS: HEIGHTENED AWARENESS IN A WORLD BEGGING FOR BRIEF 1

1 Why Brevity Is Vital 3

2 Mindful of Mind–filled–ness 13

3 Why You Struggle with Brevity:The Seven Capital Sins 27

4 The Big Bang of Brevity 35

Part TWO
DISCIPLINE: HOW TO GAIN DISCIPLINE TO BE CLEAR AND CONCISE 41

5 Mental Muscle Memory to Master Brevity 43

6 Map It: From Mind Mapping to BRIEF Maps 45

7 Tell It: The Role of Narratives 59

8 Talk It: Controlled Conversations and TALC Tracks 81

9 Show It: PowerfulWays to Make a Picture Exceed a ThousandWords 91

10 Putting Brevity toWork: Grainger and the Al and Betty Story 105

Part THREE
DECISIVENESS: GAINING THE DECISIVENESS TO KNOW WHEN AND WHERE TO BE BRIEF 111

11 Meeting You Halfway 113

12 Leaving a Smaller Digital Imprint 123

13 Presenting a Briefer Case 133

14 Trimming Your Sales (Pitch) 143

15 Whose Bright IdeaWas That Anyway? 153

16 It s Never Really Small Talk 165

17 HelpWanted: Master of Brevity 173

18 I ve Got Some Good News 183

19 And the Bad News Is 189

20 Got–a–Minute Updates 197

Part FOUR
BEING BRIEF SUMMARY AND ACTION PLAN 207

Resources 219

Notes 221

About the Author 225

Index 227

O autorze

JOSEPH McCORMACK is the founder and CEO of Sheffield Marketing Partners. Sheffield specializes in message and narrative development, and also provides video production and marketing communications services to help package stories to suit the right audiences. Joe has more than 20 years of experience as a senior marketing executive helping companies develop strategic communications that make them stand apart in a challenging marketplace.

Blurb

What people are saying about brevity.

I get several hundred emails per day. I wish people would just ask for what they want in the first sentence. I don t need to know their whole life history to make a decision. Getting people to be brief would save everyone a lot of time.
Guy Kawasaki, author, publisher and entrepreneur

You could write a book about trying to get people to pay closer attention and stop getting distracted and interrupted, or you could help people be succinct. Joe has chosen the better path.
John Challenger, CEO, Challenger, Gray and Christmas

We are entering an age of infobesity. Brief is your new weapon to cut through the clutter and stand out.
Sam Horn, author of POP! and Eyebrow Test

As a military leader, telling a story that s clear and concise helped me to thrive in a sometimes hostile media environment overseas. I m convinced that following Joe s counsel and insights has made me a more effective and efficient leader.
Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV (ret.)