The Mathematics Of Persuasive Communication

Published September 11, 2010 | By Bman

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possible”?

Once again, this has nothing do to with the number of words. It is useless to say at the beginning, “I must not write more than 300 words on this subject”, because 500 words may be the minimum necessary.

“As short as possible” means staying as close as you can to the minimum. But not because people prefer short texts; in the abstract the terms “long” and “short” have no meaning. The important point is that all words beyond the minimum tend to reduce clarity.

We should not be rigid about this. If being “as long as necessary” can be done in 500 words and you use 520, this is probably a question of individual style. It does no harm. However, if you use 650 words, it is almost certain that the text will not be completely clear- and that the reader will become confused, bored or lost.

In sum, conciseness means saying

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