Enjoy the Silence

When it comes to transmitting signals over a physical medium, there are technical means to take care of the signal-to-noise ratio. These technical artifacts (power amplifiers, filters, etc) work for us even if we are not looking. 

But when it comes to transmitting our own ideas and concepts to an audience, either by a presentation, dissertation, documents or emails, we are in charge of choosing the SNR ourselves, having access to both numerator and denominator of the equation. No automatic artifacts are possible there, we’re on our own. You would imagine we naturally seek to maximize SNR. We tend to do the opposite. We say too much. We’re chatterboxes. We love the addictive filler, the sound of our voices and the look of our phrases. We state the same things over and over. I’m doing it now.

Word count and meaning have a strange relationship. Clarity and brevity are close siblings, but not twins. The sweet spot is when you can marry both: being brief and crystal clear. When I come across such a combo, damn it feels great. It’s so rare. 

Get rid of filler. Remove. Cut. Erase. Discard. Drop. Form strategic alliances between words, not crowds. Say less. Don’t make a point that has been made. If there’s a question: answer the question. Just answer the damn question. Open your mouth only if you are sure how you will stitch the words you are going to spout. Don’t motormouth. It is ok not to know and leave it there. Silence can sound very smart.