Smart Brevity

The Power of Saying More with Less

By: Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain

Brevity is confidence. Length is fear.

This is the guiding principle of Smart Brevity, a communication formula built by Axios journalists to prioritize essential news and information, explain its impact and deliver it in a concise and visual format. In this revised and updated edition, the co-founders of Axios have created an essential guide for communicating effectively and efficiently using Smart Brevity—think Strunk and White’s Elements of Style for the digital age.

In Smart Brevity​: The Power of Saying More with Less,Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format. They also share communications lessons learned from their decades of experience in media, business and communications.

Critic reviews

A Wall Street Journal and USA Today national bestseller!

“Smart... [it offers] ways to communicate in a short-attention-span world."
—The New York Times' DealBook

"A slick, engaging and…laudable effort to help communicators reach through the verbal haze and grab readers by the lapels."
—The Wall Street Journal

“The writing of Smart Brevity is refreshingly taut and punchy; most of the sentences are finely crafted, short, and to the point, and rip across the page.”
—The New Republic

"The Axios founders’ new book makes the case for condensed communication—in an increasingly complex world."
—The New Yorker

Repetetive

It made the same point 24 times (Chapters)
Why it matters:
I’m busy and intelligent. Some repetition is good, but it was too much.

How to get your point across!

Until about the 17th chapter, when it starts talking about oral communications, this book is a five star, must-read. After that, it starts devolving into platitudes and truisms until it finally reaches the chapter on using “inclusive” language - a low point for the book.

Must Read for ALL Professionals

Not totally new concepts, but valuable approach to changing nature of work and communication

Where has this been???!!!

The guidance on capturing the audience to efficiently deliver messaging is top notch. The tools work

Type A personalities love this but no one else

This read felt like it was meant to push everyone to act like a type A personality. Personal style is frowned upon. Diplomatic words are shunned. Brevity kills politeness. Simplified vocabulary pulls us into Orwells 1984 concepts for mainstream consumption instead of elevating the masses with more precise vocabulary. This book shows a. political skew not appreciated by this reader. Some concepts are good but you will need to pick and choose what works for you.