The Brevity Memo
It is hard to be clear. That’s true in presentations, in giving feedback, providing instructions, and writing newsletters.
One insight, courtesy of Winston Churchill, is that one way to be clearer is to be brief.
In August of 1940 Winston Churchill took time out of his busy schedule of saving the Western World to write the “Brevity Memo” a plea to his war cabinet to write shorter documents. It’s still good advice!
The Memo
The first line of the Churchill Brevity memo reads:
“To do our work, we all have to read a mass of papers. Nearly all of them are far too long. This wastes time, while energy has to be spent in looking for the essential points.”
I’ll bet you a lot of money that when you look at your inbox, you will agree with those sentiments.
Key Insight
Churchill identifies “woolly phrases”, phrases that are often meant to make the writer sound smart.
Churchill encourages:
“Let us have an end of such phrases as these: ‘It is also of importance to bear in mind the following considerations...’ Consideration should be given to the possibility of carrying into effect...' Most of these woolly phrases are mere padding, which can be left out altogether or replaced by a single word. Let us not shrink from using the short, expressive phrase, even if it is conversational.”
Now, we might have updated woolly phrases here in 2025, but they haven't gone away entirely.
A Hidden Benefit
There's one more point in this memo that Churchill brings up:
“The discipline of setting out the real points concisely will prove an aid to clearer thinking.”
So his invitation for brevity was not just to save the reader's time, it is to make the arguments stronger.
When you're compelled to be brief, your reasoning can become tighter and better. As people have often said, “writing is for thinking,” and writing with brevity in mind can lead to better thinking.
A Brief Summary
Brevity is effective because it:
saves time for the audience
works for people’s shorter attention spans today
reduces distortion as the message passes between people (“telephone” effects)
sharpens the thinking of the person writing
