My Thoughts (7.5/10)

Everybody should read this book. The authors make the point that most words are used to sound smart and waste time. They encourage you to be efficient and effective in your writing and focusing on the reader.

Summary

Even the most demanding high readers want fewer words.

Listen to customers and data, not to the voice in your head.

Get rid of unnecessary noise and write content that fits on a smartphone screen.

The Golden Rules of Smart Brevity

What`s new? Why does it matter? If they want to go deeper, provide more information. Stop wasting peoples time!

People want clear, honest and efficient communication. If you do not engage with the reader they will be zoning out. Just be yourself, dont hide in a word dump.

Focus on one person you are targeting. Focus on one thing you want them to remember. Think, then type.

If you do not know exactly what you are trying to convey, the reader has zero chance to understand.

Authenticity and relatability are key. Act like you are writing for humans, in conversationalist style. We don´t use fancy words, we don`t tell people what they already do know. Talk to yourself about the point you want to make. Then, write it down. Try to shorten it to fewer than a dozen words, delete the weak words and every soggy adjective.

Just stop. Don`t talk too much.

How to do it? Be worty. Most people scan most of the content most of the time. The average person spends 26 seconds on a story or update. Frightening and liberating. Get to the damn point! Stick to the facts, be polite. Don`t waste time on superfluous niceties.

Busy work costs money.

In a world full of noise people reward you if you respect their time and attention.

Write your business email or letter, then go back and make the first 1-2 sentences say everything that you had to say.

Write your information in order of importance.

From most things, we are going to take away on key idea. Do a real gut check (Is this point or detail essential? Is there a simpler way to convey it? What can I eliminate?)

Grab me. Entice me. Seduce me.

Most people write timidly.

All emails should be short enough to show on a phone screen.

Newsletters:

• 6 words top per subject line
• Stop using fancy words or business speack
• In 10 words or less write the reason why you are writing
• Write it in the most provocable short version
• Short words = Strong words
• One syllable word > two syllable words > three syllable word
• Active verbs always
• Read it out loud
• Confirm it is something that would make you want more

Would you read it if you had not written it?

Most people only remember snippets and answers to questions. They ask themselves: What the hell is this? Is it worth my time?

Sentences should be direct and derivative. They should offer perspective. It is a success if it is leaving me wanting more. It should all feel new.

Read the headline, the first sentence and the axiom. Does it convey what you want to convey?

Go deeper. To master Smart Brevity you need to deliver depth, detail and nuance after the first sentence.

Most people zone out pretty quick.

If you want to explain three or more points, use bullet points.

Be bold. If you want something to stand out put it in bold.

Mix it up. Avoid long blocks of consecutive paragraphs. Use pictures and graphs.

Just stop.

Deploy strong words. Is it something real? A weak word is not real, but abstract.

Purge weak words. If you would not say it at a bar or beach, delete them. These are words that are supposed to make you sound smart but just make you sound like an ass: conundrum, disconcerning, conclave, meeting, quintessential, range, real, illucidate. These words only exist in academia and think tanks: discourse, lack, possity, scarcity, ubiquitous, vehement, forceful, spread, raison d`étre.

Avoid foggy words (could, would and may). This will do nothing to inform or delight. Instead, say what is happening. Don`t use vague, foggy nothings.

Use active words. This brings action. Be as ruthless with your sentences as with your words.

You are in a war for attention. Use emojis.

Part of the “Smart” is selection. Don`t make your readers pick whats important. Just say it. “Brevity” is confidence. Flip the focus to the reader.

Gamify it. Trim words and then challenge the writer to find the missing words.

Newsletter Tips & Tricks

• Come up with a 1 or 2 word name. Punchy but clear. Capture purpose and spirit
• Dont waste time, be specific about how much of your readers time you will take (average reader: 265 words per minute) 
• Start big, follow it with a tight forceful headline 
• Dont be messy
• Write a few more items in smart brevity in order of importance. Make sure every item is truly essential
• Say up top how many items will follow

Grab me. Excite me. Choose a cool picture.

Brevity always. Keep each item to 200 words tops. Research shows that attention drops after that.

Two things keep employees feel good about their job: Good relationships with coworkers and engagement.

Smart Brevity your meetings

• Make sure you truly need the meeting.
• You will stand out as someone who values other peoples time.
• Person who set up the meeting should set up an objective and agenda (3 bullet points) the night before
• Write a memo for everyone to read
• Have a culture of starting exactly on time
• While you meet:
  • Set a time limit (20 minutes usually sufficient)
  • Micromeetings (5-10 minutes)
  • Open meeting with headline
  • Second sentence: Explain why it matters and what decisions have to be made.
  • Guide the discussion. Set the tone for focus and efficiency.
  • Be inclusive. Encourage silent people to share their opinions.
  • 2 minutes before the end sum up the main points
• After the meeting:
  • Write a summary with bullet points

Presentations

Usually tressful for the presenter and boring for the audience. Use the fewest words and the fewest slides.

Start simple with a crystal clear idea of what you want the audience to remember. Know what you are saying.

Simplify to exaggerate. Destroy anything that distracts from the essential points.

One message per slide. Combine pictures with a few words.

Social Media

Know your audience. Be image conscious. Clean, simple and arresting images. Strong simple words plus evocative emojis.

Visuals

Elegant efficiency. What`s the cleanest, sharpest, most efficient way to display it. Good hierarchy is fundamental and goes unnoticed.

Does the concept make sense to somebody seeing it with fresh eyes?

How to run a company on Smart Brevity

Every question will be answered except for money and why someone quit. Communications failure can cripple an entire organisation. The questions will be read out anonymously weekly.

Weekly newsletter sent out. We hate to be confused anbout our purpose or the news.

Efficiency is paramount.

Don`t be a fraud write with authenticity. Quit writing nonsense. Connect with your staff at least once a week.

Be humble, show gratitude, and embrace mistakes.

Communicate inclusively.

Rating: 6.5/10

My Thoughts:

This book changed the way I think about how to be proactive in your own luck and how good social ties can significantly influence your life.

We all like to have a plan and control. This is reflected in the way we form organizations and governments.

The unexpected makes out the fabric of our lives. Napoleon even said he would rather have lucky generals than good ones.

“Luck is a blend of preparation and good fortune” – Seneca

Proactive decisions lead to positive outcomes, it is present all around us.

Only a few have deciphered the code and developed the mindset for this.

Serendipity is not a coincidence of what happens to us, we see bridges where others see gaps. Uncertainity is a source of joy and meaning.

Serendipitors are prepared for luck, they create the conditions for serendipity to happen.

Go from being passive to active in your own life.

There are three types of serendipity:

1. Archimedes Serendipity: A known challenge is solved, but the way is unexpected.
2. Post-It Serendipity: Happens, when searching for a solution to one problem leads to a discovery of a solution to an unrecognised or entirely different problem.
3. Thunderstorm Serendipity: No active search for a solution is taking place, but a new problem-solution pairing emerges unexpectedly, like the invention of rolling suitcases.

Bias that hinder you from experiencing serendipity:

• Undererstimating the unexpected
  • It is very probable that something improbable will happen
  • The unexpected happens all the time, do we spot this?
  • Once you see the unexpected, you might be able to identify ways to increase the pie that benefits both, it`s not a zero-sum-game!
• Conforming to the majority
  • Self-perception has power over the narrative of your own life
  • Study conducted found that people that see themselves as lucky are more receptive to lucky coincidences than people who perceive themselves as unlucky (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Do a couple of hours per week of work for someone you admire.

We thrive when we have a northstar (purpose) as well as meaningful day-to-day interactions.

Only if people feel meaningful do they stay loyal.

It is underestimated how important the higher needs from Maslows hierarchy of needs are, money is only one among several factors.

You have to aim a little bit higher than you want to fly.

Serendipity is constrained when we are exhausted e.g. when introverts are too social.

Synchronicity tends to happen when we put energy out into the universe.

Nuance is the essence of life.

Humour plays an incremental role in serendipity.

Serendipity is not a single event, but a sequence of setting serendipity bombs.

Serendipity bombs:

• Write a one-pager about you, if people ask you what you do, give them at least 4 things that both of you could talk about.
• Identify the people you look up to. Write them why you admire them, this is a numbers game.
• Go to one public event per month. This could be a public lecture or a reading. Have at least one good question ready for the author and try to get their contact.
• When you meet somebody new, think about how you could introduce that new person to somebody else.

Turning serendipitous encounters into opportunities:

• Let go when a connection seems fruitless
• Schedule time in your calendar for making.
• It is not just about showing up, but about how and with what energy you do.
• Start clustering your meetings and if they can be merged they should.

Never doubt that a small number of devoted citizens can change the world.

Most people start with an extremely low serendipity level.

Don`t be a stranger, invest into social capital. This can help improve your well-being.

Less social capital equals less serendipity.

Well-curated interest-based communities combine the size of weak ties with the power of strong-ties. Communities need to be inspired instead of controlled.

Good relationship building events focus on interests and passions, more trusted relationships can be developed. Well-curated events can empower you.

Networks and communities can be a serendipity accelerator.

I found this one spiritual lesson, not unlike the other ones, rather conflicting. These lessons contradict every rule that I got taught to live by. This is what makes them so interesting.

2. Romantic Love is an Illusion

This one I found even harder comprehend than the other ones. So apparently, romantic love is an illusion as most of us humans spend much time and energy on the pursuit of another human to be able to give and receive love, when according to Chopra love is everywhere . The pure essence of life and therefor the universe is love which radiates through each and everything. I don`t feel love this way, so it is hard for me to comprehend what is meant by that.

3. Harnessing the Power of Intention:

According to Chopra and Radin words hold more power than one thinks. Through words we are able to build intentions which then will slowly change and form the universe. Apparently many humans have intentions, which are very unclear and messy because they aren`t clearly formed. This reminds me of Schrödingers cat as the universe can be everything at once before it is being observed and in this state you can choose the path of the universe. But as we are the universe according