Loading...

These three words describe some of the world's best writing.

What does it mean to be clear, concise, and brief? Clear communication--writing or speaking with clarity--makes sense to an audience. It is easy to understand. Just as a clearly written paper does a great job of transferring information from the writer to the reader, clear speech simply shares the speaker's ideas directly with listeners.

Concise communication shares a large amount of information in very few words. Concise is the opposite of wordy--that is, a concisely written speech or presentation uses no extra words to communicate its message.

If your speech is concise, it will seem brief to listeners instead of long and rambling. Generally, brevity--the quality of briefness in communication--is a good thing because it can help you get a point across while your listeners are still paying attention.

What does clear, concise, and brief language look like? Use the activity below to make sure you can recognize it. Drag each term to the sentence it describes.

concise
Bob's speech was very _____: It described every detail of his experience.


Bob's speech was very ______: It described the most important aspects of his experience.
clear
The presentation provided a ____, easy to understand introduction to a complex topic.


The presentation provided a _____, complicated introduction to a simple topic.
concise
His speech included this ________ statement: The reasons you should think about for giving are related to altruistic feelings.


His speech included this ________ statement: You should give because giving feels good.
clear
Her presentation was ________ -- it began in this way: How do you build a birdhouse? You follow these five steps.


Her presentation was ________ -- it began in this way: Building a birdhouse requires you to do some things that I will now show you.

Summary

Questions answered correctly:

Questions answered incorrectly:

Question

Is a good speech always as brief as possible?

Brevity is a good principle to follow when you want to communicate ideas or information. It may not be the best choice, however, when your speech includes a story or describes a scene or situation.