Brevity in communications has become both an Asset and Liability.

Over the last decade we have accelerated our embrace of tech-driven means to speed and multiply our information access and personal interactions.

Texts, Tweets and many more vehicles service these needs, but at what price? The fewer words or characters employed in a communication, the greater are risks to clarity and precision.

Often vagueness truly is better than invisibility. Many times awareness is more important than ignorance. But frequently, there is real liability in lack of clarity or obscure intent.

“Get out, now. There’s fire,” is not the same as, “I see smoke. Anyone called 911?”

As a young graduate I recall being roasted by a Senior Engineer for imprecisely describing a technical hitch. My vagueness showed inexperience, lacked thought and useful recommendations. I recognized the problem and upgraded my commentaries, thenceforth. Truly this was a life-lesson.

Clear communications are normally essential, be they in personal, business, subjective or factual situations. Clarifying exact meanings later is all-too-often a part of consequential damage control.

“I thought you meant…,” or, “what did you mean by…,” are phrases regularly seen when things have already gone awry.

Realistically, can everyone always make sufficient time to optimize what they say or write? Probably not, but when items are Serious, Urgent and/or Important we should always take more care.

Highlighting a problem poorly or making inherently misleading comments can carry a heavy price. Perhaps simple qualifiers (“I think that…,” “I believe this…,” etc.) could often be used to offset many liabilities. Certainly this would mitigate a pet peeve of mine exhibited frequently by professionals who freely proffer statements, yet avoid offering the clarification of whether their points are opinion or fact.

I regularly see people write and/or say things that highlight their insensitivity to the importance of words and how they are used. The simplest statement can be massively changed by:

Word Selection

Different words can carry vastly different meanings and cultural implications: “torrential rain” is not the same as “steady rain.”

Word Ordering

Switch the words and change the meaning: “Will I,” is radically different from,” I will.”

What’s important might change dramatically in the same message: “I must go now,” differs significantly from, “I MUST go now.”

Communication Vehicle

Written Texts, Tweets, emails, letters, books etc. all constrain the author to communicate quite differently. Often adjustments are made to mitigate the liabilities (LOL ).

Intriguingly, the voice (eyes and body, too) offers almost infinite intonation and cultural opportunities. Thus the power of F-2-F discourse is obvious.

Imagery

The pictures we both convey or provide usually carry great weight.

And, more…

Culturally, it seems to me that we now more necessarily accept communication errors and often willingly sacrifice quality for quantity. In many cases this is a great trade-off, particularly where some insight is markedly better than ignorance. This approach feeds our inquisitiveness and piques our awareness. It also recognizes and accommodates our inherent physical separation from others.

However, when things really matter it’s generally better to momentarily reflect on WHAT you say, WHEN you say it and HOW. After all, if we get it wrong it often returns to haunt us.

How well are you succeeding with your own communications? Do you ever trip yourself up? Do your people cause you heartburn with some of their messaging? It’s probably time to reflect upon both your and others’ communication behaviors.