Nailing It! On the Art of Brevity
In my first Tuesday Essay in my new publication Open Talks, I would like to start by lining out a paradox. Sometimes the well thought is well written — in the length! But when it comes to certain items of wisdom, it is best put short.
A famed story with Winston Churchill, when he was asked to have talks, he asked, “How long should it be?”, and getting the answer, was;
“ — One hour!
— Ok, I can do it at once!”
… vs., another time;
“ — Ten minutes!
— Ok, call me in a week!”
This gets it to the spot. The shorter the space, the more you need to prepare. And in our contemporary media environment where attention deficit is a norm rather than an exception, you need to cut it short.
There is no coincidence that TED Talks are a maximum of 18 minutes. An Idea Worth Spreading needs to be squeezed into this space, obviously.
Also, the inspirational quotes can be viewed with this “freeze-dried-wisdom” view. A one-liner, sometimes capturing the essence of something.
When it comes to change-making, there is one true experience — that the only change that can be is the one that a certain individual can do. And thus want! So, there is only one true way — to set the pace and direction of where you want the world to go. Your own action! Role-modeling. Attributed to Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world”, is not really his one-liner, but rather this full quote;
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change toward him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
In order to act, though, knowledge is needed to make better and more informed decisions, and actions following. Thus, the importance to spread knowledge is there. We still have to put our hope that facts still are the hardest of currencies, right?
So. I hope this little publication will spread that little light of hope, based on facts and profound insights — put short!
Focus is a challenge, and Attention is a scarcity!
And learning from this insight, setting an example in this spirit — ending my essay here!
