Overcoming Long-Windedness for Better Leadership

Do you ever wonder whether you talk too much or write longer reports and emails than you should? You may be “long-winded,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “tediously long in speaking or writing.”

Long-winded leaders undermine their influence and effectiveness, whether in business or other contexts. Sadly, for some, long-windedness can be a sign of dementia or other diminished mental capacity. Other causes, both common and extreme, include anxiety, insecurity, extroversion, ego, neuroticism, and simply a lack of awareness of its negative impacts. Long-winded leaders often have performance anxiety, feeling they must put on a show. Talking also feeds our reward system, particularly when talking about ourselves.

Let’s explore this issue of long-windedness and what leaders can do to overcome it.

Consider Your Impact — and Your Legacy

Leaders can’t meaningfully communicate through sound bites, text messages, and emojis, but shouldn’t expect to engage followers with long oratory either. Before mass media and the constant grab for consumers’ attention, people may have appreciated such efforts. Who can forget Harvard President Edward Everett’s thoroughly researched, brilliantly delivered, two-hour speech at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863? Well, most of us, but we remember President Lincoln’s remarks that followed, a two-minute, 270-word speech so succinct and impactful that fourth graders (including me) can memorize and recite it.

Overbearing leaders can dominate any room, dais, or meeting over which they preside but are bad for business as they squelch others’ energy and input. Take a lesson from Lincoln and be mindful of your message and the impact you can make through succinct delivery.

Learn To Be Succinct, Clear, and Compelling

Speakers and writers have the same occupational hazard of falling in love with their words. We can learn from writers like George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, and Mark Twain. Orwell wrote about the uses and abuses of language in his classic, 1984, and in writings like Politics and the English Language. He stressed, whenever possible, using plain language over metaphors and similes, long over short words, active over passive voice, and “an everyday English equivalent” to unfamiliar scientific, foreign, or jargon words.

Hemingway was known for writing concisely, adhering to four basic rules: short sentences, brief introductory paragraphs, vigorous language, and choosing the right word. Twain adhered to similar rules and said, among other quotes on writing, “[w]hen you catch an adjective, kill it.” Kill, for example, your use of “very.” Twain said, “Don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.”

Be Self-Reflective and Open to Input

Leaders must recognize their tendencies for excessive speech. Their followers certainly do. Communications expert Joe McCormack suggests in Harvard Business Review that we identify specific occasions when the leader speaks too long and a specific approach for telling them that will also benefit them. Thus, if the leader speaks excessively during meetings, respectfully confront them offline and highlight a benefit for brevity, such as greater productivity, quicker results, or time savings. We can also reinforce brevity, such as presenting or reducing comments to bullet points, stating an intent to be brief (“I only need five minutes”), and communicating a “hard stop” at the beginning of meetings.

But are leaders attuned to the subtle and direct messages about their long-windedness? Leadership coach Gia Storms recommends in Fast Company that we ask for input, time and record ourselves speaking, and take similar measures to assess our verbal patterns. Also, “start bottom lining,” by which we pause before speaking, slow down, and determine what we actually need to say. This may significantly reduce the number of words needed and increase listener attentiveness. Practicing listening and silence is also effective, utilizing a 70-30 rule by which we spend 70% of our time listening and only 30% speaking.

Edit and Revise

Mark Twain also said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” How true. The art of brevity is not in the creating, but in editing and revising.

Roy Peter Clark, author of “How to Write Short,” references Lincoln’s lesson to advise writers and speakers to “[w]ork from a ritual of reduction,” advising a 75% rule, or to “deliver the work in three-quarters of the expected length.” He also recommends that we “rehearse for length.” This may be evident when there is time to write a report or prepare a speech. But I suggest you will improve your delivery even for everyday engagements with limited preparation time if you remain mindful about reduction, remember less is more, pause and think, and write a few notes or bullet points whenever possible before speaking.

I won’t pretend overcoming long-windedness is easy. In writing for HigherEdJobs, we are advised to keep articles on the short side, which is a goal I routinely fail to–

Editor’s Note: This article has been edited for brevity.