Stories
In 140
- Adam
- Midjourney
- 2025
- 17m read
Brevity holds a singular power. It can portray the magnitude of a pivotal moment in a universally relatable way. This article explores the art and science of the succinct, and why it resonates deeply with both our minds and emotions.
01
Brevity isn’t just about saying less. It’s about saying more with less. Rooted in centuries of psychology, linguistics, and culture, its distils complexity into clarity. It captures meaning and emotion in their purest forms, in a delicate balance of precision and impact. True mastery shows respect for both the message and audience investment.
The psychology of brevity
Why do we favour short and concise messages, and clean design? The answer lies in our brain’s drive for efficiency. From linguistic patterns to memory formation, simplicity isn’t practical, but a cognitive necessity.
In the 1930s, the linguist, George Zipf, introduced the groundbreaking Zipf’s Law of Compression, a principle that continues to shape linguistic theory today. Shorter words are frequently used because they save effort, research reveals. Word frequency exhibits a consistent pattern across languages: the most frequent word’s occurrence roughly doubles that of the next, triples that of the third, etc. Even complex languages such as German and Finnish show a preference for shorter sentences.
Brevity extends beyond language, encompassing all forms of communication and expression. According to Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1988), our brains can only process a finite amount of information at once. Breaking ideas into digestible chunks enhances comprehension and retention, aligning with our cognitive limitations (Miller, 1956).
Consider the UK Government’s pandemic slogan, ‘Hands. Face. Space’. This phrase condensed life-saving behaviours into simple, actionable steps. Its rhythmic cadence and monosyllabic structure reinforced memory retention, while repetition across channels amplified its impact. The rule of three ensures grouped ideas are inherently easier to process and recall.
At a functional level, well-crafted and concise phrase also appeal to the brain’s reward system. When we quickly comprehend, our brain releases dopamine, the feel good neurotransmitter, creating a sense of satisfaction. Repetition amplifies this effect: as a phrase recurs, it strengthens neural pathways, embedding itself deeper into memory and making it more effective over time.
3 word poem
A masterclass in minimalism
Stemming from Japanese haiku, the three word poem distils vast emotions and complex ideas into a minimalist triptych. Each term carries weight, and together they create a narrative that lets the audience engage in its interpretation.
Examples such as ‘Love endures. Barely.’ or ‘Forgotten paths remembered.’ leave space for the imagination to complete the narrative. As with Hemingway’s famous six word story; ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’, the three word poem relies on suggestion over explanation. By omitting detail, it heightens emotional resonance, inviting readers to uncover meaning in the unsaid.
This brevity taps into the brain’s preference for patterns and connections (Hasson et al., 2010). Utilising predictive capabilities elevates ultra short poetry beyond a simple literary exercise, imbuing it with depth and purpose. It aligns with neuroscientific insights showing that emotionally charged, concise messages are more memorable and impactful (Zak, 2015) and an enduring truism: the fewer words we use, the more power they hold.
Short form storytelling crosses linguistic and cultural barriers, uniting people through universal themes such as love, loss, and hope. Its power lies in its ability to strip an idea down to its essence, making it relatable across diverse audiences.
Consider a slogan such as ‘Just do it’. The simplicity isn’t only memorable but aspirational, tapping into the shared human desire for achievement. Social movements such as #MeToo harness the power of succinct messaging to inspire action. These phrases resonate because they allow individuals to project their own experiences and emotions onto the message, transforming it into something deeply personal.
Brief writing also speaks directly to our emotional core. Neuroscience reveals that brief, emotionally charged phrases engage the brain’s limbic system, the seat of emotion and memory (Zak, 2015). Universality gives brevity its cultural power. It doesn’t dictate explanation, but invites interpretation. It creates space for connection, allowing audiences to see themselves in the message.
俳
句
Newspapers - kings of the short form
02
Before digital and social media, newspapers were the arbiters of public discourse, holding power to account. And the headline was their sharpest tool.
Headline writing has always been grounded in the news journalism model of the inverted pyramid, where essential details come first. Paired with arresting images, front pages not only capture the facts but the enormity of an event.
A unique art form, headline writing, draws upon salience, a concept from behavioural economics that explains why emotionally charged and relevant ideas command our notice (Kahneman, 2011).
Front pages like ‘Gotcha!’ (The Sun, 1982) distilled entire stories into a single word, designed to grab attention in an instant. It’s short, colloquial style was simple and triggered a visceral reaction – readers celebrating its boldness or shocked by its insensitivity. Either way, it ensured widespread coverage that embedded it in collective memory.
This economy of language wasn’t only about saving page space; it was about delivering maximum impact. The best headlines combine urgency, emotion, and intrigue, provoking a reaction and making them hard to forget.
Rewriting the rules: The digital media era
The digital revolution hasn’t just changed how we consume information; it has fundamentally reshaped how we create it. This era of social media, blogging, and citizen journalism, dubbed the Fifth Estate, has democratised storytelling by levelling the playing field and giving individuals the tools to create narratives that rival established media.
In this fragmented, bottomless scrolling world, brevity has become more than a preference. With attention spans averaging just eight seconds (Microsoft, 2015), platforms like Twitter epitomise this shift. Its original 140-character limit force concise, impactful creation where wit, clarity, and precision reign.
But concise alone isn’t enough in the digital age. Algorithms amplify attention-grabbing content, elevating the importance of headlines, hashtags, and soundbites. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels exemplify brevity through dynamic visual storytelling. A well produced 15 second video can convey a complete narrative arc from setup, conflict, and resolution by leveraging visuals, music, and text for maximum impact. These short-form videos appeal to the mind’s craving for efficiency, delivering quick dopamine hits while telling compelling stories.
Unlike newspapers that speak to a broad audience, digital platforms tailor content to the individual through algorithmic curation. This personalisation creates echo chambers, where messages reinforce existing beliefs, amplifying polarisation and reshaping public discourse.
Digital media’s reliance on visuals has elevated iconography into universal tools of communication. Icons, emojis, and GIFs act as a modern-day hieroglyphics. Their effectiveness lies in their ability to convey complex ideas simply with universality.
This form of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols, builds meaning through context to overcome language and literacy barriers. Visual information is processed 60,000 times faster than text (Lester, 2006). Emoji’s and GIFs take this further, delivering expression enriched with nuance and tone.
Brevity is no longer about editing. It’s about blending words, visuals, sound, and motion into a language that speaks to a digital world.
eg
The MAGA effect
Popularised during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, ‘Make America Great Again’ promised a return to an idealised past, resonating with voters who were disillusioned by globalization, economic decline, and cultural shifts.
Why it stuck
MAGA is concise, adhering to principles of Zipf’s Law. Its four words are easy to remember and repeat, making it a perfect slogan for mass communication. The phrase distils a complex political message into something universally accessible.
Tapping into nostalgia and pride, it evokes a yearning for a perceived golden age. It leaves room for individuals to define ‘great’ based on their values, which enhances its relatability and emotional impact.
The slogan’s vagueness is its strength, inviting interpretation and allowing diverse groups to project their own grievances and hopes onto the phrase.
Lastly, MAGA was relentlessly repeated in speeches, rallies, and media coverage, capitalising on the mere-exposure effect. The slogan was reinforced by visual elements like the red hat, which transformed the message into a physical, wearable, potent cultural statement, making the slogan an identity marker.
Applications of brevity
03
Marketing and branding – capturing the essence
Brevity serves as a cornerstone of marketing. Taglines like ‘Just do it’ are memorable not because they’re flashy, but because they distil a brand’s essence into a few powerful words. More than a slogan, they become a call to action, aspiration, and universal in their appeal.
Effective marketing leverages Zipf’s Law. Familiar phrases create mental shortcuts, embedding themselves in our consciousness. Research reveals that repeated, concise writing strengthens neural pathways, creating enduring brand associations (Ebbinghaus, 1985). When paired with iconic visuals, like the swoosh, words, and images transform into cultural symbols.
Education – learning in bursts
In education, brevity meets neuroscience through microlearning—delivering information in short, focused bursts. This approach caters to the brain’s predilection for chunking, a process that enhances understanding and retention by breaking complex concepts into manageable pieces (Miller, 1956). Take Duolingo, for example. Its bite-sized language lessons combine short bursts with gamification, ensuring learners make consistent progress without feeling overwhelmed.
Social movements – mobilisation through simplicity
As we saw earlier, hashtags like #MeToo encapsulate entire calls to action in a few characters, bringing communities together around shared experience and beliefs. The impact of these messages lies in the salience. By encapsulating the emotional gravity of a cause, succinct messages transcend barriers of culture and language, turning individual experiences into collective momentum.
Ultimately, concise communication will gain importance as the world becomes noisier and attention more scarce. From proverbs to slogans, tabloids to Twitter, brevity will long serve as the cornerstone of effective communication at a human level. It endures not because it saves time, but because it resonates. Its simplicity, clarity, and universality fosters connection while its precision leaves room for imagination.
eg
IKEA
Instruction
phenomenon
IKEA is an exemplar in universal communication and the power of semiotics. Their approach to creating globally understandable, text-free assembly guides makes them a model for effective communication across languages and cultures.
Why it works
IKEA’s manuals rely solely on line drawings, enabling users to ‘read’ images rather than text. They use universal symbols to convey meaning and by presenting one action at a time, it allows users to minimising cognitive load and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
A unified visual style creates familiarity, making the process achievable, even for first-time users. The inclusion of a friendly cartoon helper figure adds an emotional touch. This consistency enhances user trust and confidence, reinforcing the idea that ‘if you follow these steps, you will succeed’.
IKEA democratises communication by ensuring that anyone, regardless of education or linguistic proficiency, can assemble their products. This aligns with their broader mission of ‘creating a better everyday life for the many people,’ making their brand identity synonymous with accessibility and user-friendliness.
Simplicity works as the less a user need to interpret, the better they perform. IKEA’s commitment to reducing complexity helps customers develop a positive brand association.
NOTE
This article makes up part of a book we have authored, exploring the art of communication, not as performance, but in connecting — the difference between being heard and being understood, between delivering a message and making a difference. Structured in five parts, it moves from the inner architecture of clarity and self-awareness to the practical, high-stakes settings where communication either builds trust or breaks it. It fuses psychology, frontline expertise, and emotional intelligence to equip readers with techniques and tools for empathy, presence, composure, and credibility.
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