two minutes<\/strong> to deliver. You might remember the opening lines from history class: \u201cFour score and seven years ago\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 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, \u201cgovernment of the people, by the people, for the people. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lincoln\u2019s listeners may have expected a long speech. He didn\u2019t say everything he could have on the occasion, but he did say what was essential.<\/strong> His words are unforgettable because they were so concise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nToday\u2019s Modern Obsession with Brevity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Today, short, concise, and summarized expressions are all around us. People\u2019s attention spans are shorter than they were a few decades ago. We can see the demand for summaries in the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Text messaging. <\/strong>Since the 1990s, we\u2019ve 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Social media.<\/strong> 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 \u201ctoo long, didn\u2019t read,\u201d may taunt longer posts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- News and information.<\/strong> 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\u2014both total length and length of individual articles\u2014to match readers\u2019 habits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Resumes. <\/strong>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Work-related communication.<\/strong> Lengthy meetings have been replaced by Slack messages and email subject lines. Getting to the point quickly and with clarity is expected.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Personal branding<\/strong>. Bios and about sections are limited to a few lines. For example, on Instagram, you\u2019re allotted 150 characters to tell the world who you are. On LinkedIn, your \u201cAbout\u201d section gets 2,600 characters, but only the first 200 are automatically displayed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Elevator pitches and startup decks. <\/strong>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Dating apps<\/strong>. You\u2019ll typically try to make an impression with two sentences and a photo. Viewers quickly swipe \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The art of summarizing<\/strong> is more than a practical skill. It is a reflection of the times. The tools we use\u2014word processors, smartphones, and AI\u2014may be new, but they are assuming an ancient role. <\/p>\n\n\n\nShakespeare 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\u2019s important to you in seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s 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. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Cara Siera Photo by Matt Riches on Unsplash Summaries\u2014brief statements about the main point of a given topic\u2014have shaped how we communicate, connect with, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5984,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}