Daryl Zamora

You can finish reading Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz in just one night. That’s what I did.

At more than 200 pages, I didn’t expect to breeze through this book. The chapters are straight to the point and have crisp prose — a masterful application of the book’s message.

I can’t say the book blew me away (maybe because I’d already learned many of its precepts elsewhere), but it definitely earns its place in my reference books shelf.

My favorite takeaways:

• Bullet points are your friends. If you’re already having several paragraphs to explain your idea, try expressing them with bullet points. They’re easier to read.
• Always think like your reader. Is she busy? What time of day would she read your email? What’s the most important thing to her? Once you truly understand your reader, you’ll know what to omit or leave for last.
• Get to the essence of what you want to say, then write it as if telling it to a friend. Use simpler words, compose shorter sentences. But add links to more details if it helps the reader.