Mark Pack

Recognise this man?

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, he’s Edward Everett. That’s the man who gave a two hour speech on November 19, 1863. He was followed by a fellow American who gave a mere two and a bit minute speech – otherwise known as Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln’s brevity (and without PowerPoint) shows how it is possible to communicate major, thoughtful political points whilst being brief. At the more mundane level of your local leaflets and letters, you don’t have to knock the font size down to 9 points and axe the photos in order to make room for those very important words that are just absolutely necessary to explain a really very important point.

You can keep wording short, succinct and clear whilst also being packed full of meaning and understanding – if you take real care over your words.