Recently I wrote an advertisement for a part-time temporary job in Craigslist and had it posted 3 weeks and received 1 response. I was very detailed in the advertisement as to the job description. Needless to say I was a little disappointed in the results.
So I decided to rewrite the advertisement in point form rather than a narrative form. The qualifications did not change only the way it was presented. In less than 24 hours I received four responces to the advertisement.
I started thinking about what occurred and learned a very good lesson in keping matters short and to the point. My fist advertisement was detailed yet when the same material was presented in point form the response was significantly greater.
How many times do we attend meetings that are long winded and very short on content of information. Last evening I attended a meeting that lasted 2 hours where the presenter covered a lot of material, yet he had a stop watch and allowed only a certain amount of time for discussion. When the time limit was reached, he cut off further discussion and moved onto the next subject matter. Not all were thrilled at his procedure, yet much was accomplished. He ended the meeting by saying that if you felt you did not have time to make your point of view, send him a followup email.
Robert McNamara a former defense secretary of the US had a policy that if wanted to convey an idea to him do so in one page only. That made a lot of people mad especially in government where shortness and clarity are not the norm. If you doubt me look at the IRS Tax Code.
For those of you who have children will agree that if you are going to give them a directive make it short or to the point, otherwise they put their head back and roll their eyes, In their mind they are thinking “Yea Dad make your point and lets move on.”
So the lesson I relearned was keep it simple, brief and to the point.
Boyd McClean
www.boydmcclean.com