August 20, 2009

"What I'm Trying to Say Is . . ."


"To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement."

Mark Twain

This is ironically part of a longer quote addressing the importance of brevity.

What would happen in our meetings if we could impose a "half as many words as normal" rule?

In other words, no meeting can include more than half the words used in a typical meeting.

6 comments :

  1. I don't know if half as many words would help but there is no way it could hurt.

    So much wasted time due to so many wasted words.

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  2. How about half as many words AND half as many meetings? That way we're down to 25% of the largely useless words we're subjected to each day.

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  3. Just curious if any of you reading this, feel some or even many of the words you speak in meetings are wasted.

    Or is it only those coming from others?

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  4. I think I know what you're getting at. I have to drag myself to everyone else's meetings but believe mine are all productive.

    Are you suggesting a double standard?

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  5. Sometimes it's sort of like that old saying about advertising.... 50% is a waste but I'm not sure which 50%.

    You never really no for sure what words it will take to ring someone's bell.

    Too wordy?

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