From Shakespeare to AI, We Love Summarizing Our Experiences
By Cara Siera
Photo by Matt Riches on Unsplash
Summaries—brief statements about the main point of a given topic—have shaped how we communicate, connect with, and even persuade others. Whether you’re looking at the arts, politics, or personal branding, the ability to condense big ideas into a few powerful words is one of humanity’s most enduring skills.
Today, we often turn to tools like artificial intelligence (AI) resume summary generators or ChatGPT to condense ideas for us. But the art of summarizing goes back much further than today’s AI. History is filled with examples of humans mastering the short form. Consider a few below.
Shakespeare’s Masterpieces in 14 Lines
You may be most familiar with William Shakespeare’s epic plays like Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet. But he is equally lauded for 154 sonnets, short poems that are only 14 lines long.
Consider, for example, Sonnet 18, famous for the line “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” In just a handful of sentences, Shakespeare captured the fleeting nature of beauty as well as poetry’s preservational power. He didn’t need to write a whole novel to make his point. He only needed 132 carefully chosen words.
Within a tiny structure, Shakespeare captured universal truths about time, love, mortality, and beauty. That illustrates the magic of summary, distilling something vast and resonant into something small and deeply human without losing its power.
The Most Famous (Short) Speech in American History
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech called the Gettysburg Address while standing on a battlefield. It was about double the length of Shakespeare’s sonnet at 272 words and took about two minutes to deliver. You might remember the opening lines from history class: “Four score and seven years ago…”
In the short speech, Lincoln honored fallen soldiers, redefined the purpose of the Civil War, and reinforced the principle of democracy with the equally famous words, “government of the people, by the people, for the people. “
Lincoln’s listeners may have expected a long speech. He didn’t say everything he could have on the occasion, but he did say what was essential. His words are unforgettable because they were so concise.
Today’s Modern Obsession with Brevity
Today, short, concise, and summarized expressions are all around us. People’s attention spans are shorter than they were a few decades ago. We can see the demand for summaries in the following:
- Text messaging. Since the 1990s, we’ve been typing out short text messages using Short Message Service (SMS) on our mobile phones. Standard SMS messages max out at 160 characters; longer messages are divided into segments.
- Social media. Twitter (now X) taught users to convey messages in 280 characters or fewer. Short videos, usually 60 seconds or less, dominate on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. TL;DR, meaning “too long, didn’t read,” may taunt longer posts.
- News and information. Many people get their news through short online videos or podcasts. Many articles are now accompanied by a short summary for those unwilling to read the whole thing. Some magazines and other media have decreased their length—both total length and length of individual articles—to match readers’ habits.
- Resumes. These already short documents typically begin with a summary. Studies have shown that recruiters typically spend less than 10 seconds before making an initial decision.
- Work-related communication. Lengthy meetings have been replaced by Slack messages and email subject lines. Getting to the point quickly and with clarity is expected.
- Personal branding. Bios and about sections are limited to a few lines. For example, on Instagram, you’re allotted 150 characters to tell the world who you are. On LinkedIn, your “About” section gets 2,600 characters, but only the first 200 are automatically displayed.
- Elevator pitches and startup decks. Investors encourage entrepreneurs to explain their big ideas in 30 seconds or less. Their business plans may be book-length, but pitch decks allow about 10 slides to persuade investors at a glance.
- Dating apps. You’ll typically try to make an impression with two sentences and a photo. Viewers quickly swipe “yes” or “no.”
To sum up, brevity has become integral to survival in modern society. Those who can communicate clearly in limited words will stand out, while long-winded speakers tend to be ignored.
Key Takeaways
The art of summarizing is more than a practical skill. It is a reflection of the times. The tools we use—word processors, smartphones, and AI—may be new, but they are assuming an ancient role.
Shakespeare expressed timeless truths in 14 lines. Lincoln took two minutes to redefine an entire nation. You use short bios and pitches to communicate ideas about yourself and what’s important to you in seconds.
Today’s world is fueled by summaries, and your success often depends on how well you distill your story. The tools may have changed, but the principle behind the summary has not: the shorter the form, the sharper the message.