- Discipline 6: Keep it concise
The clock is ticking!
The best-performing TikToks run 41 seconds. The average peer-reviewed medical journal article runs 4,000 to 7,000 words.
The average attention span on a digital screen has dropped from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to roughly 47 seconds today. The gap between what audiences can absorb and what organizations produce has widened every year. The organizations still drafting communications for the 2004 attention span are writing for an audience that no longer exists.
When I work with scientists for presentations and media interviews, the clearest direction I give them is this: flip the abstract upside down. The scientific method builds from methods to conclusions. The attention economy requires the reverse. Lead with what you found. Earn the right to explain how you got there.
The data on our fleeting attention is compelling. Emails under 100 words generate 51% more responses than emails over 200. Past 300 words, response rates drop to 2.1%. Executives spend less than nine seconds reading an email they have already decided to open.
Investors, researchers, policy leaders and publics you most need to reach are not information-resistant. They are making constant decisions about which information deserves more of their time. A communication that does not establish its value in the first sentence is not asking for attention. It is asking for charity.
Too many communications ask for charity.
Concision must be driven by audience understanding. The discipline is knowing what to remove because you understand what the audience already carries into the room. Their perspective. Their motivation. A clinician who has spent a career treating a patient population does not need epidemiology 101. An investor who has tracked your program for two years does not need the origin story.
Starting from what they already know is a signal that you value their perspectives and might be worthy of their attention.
Engagement by Design treats concision as a form of respect. Brevity signals that you understand the audience’s time is not yours to spend. The organizations that earn sustained attention have done the editing before the meeting. They have made the case for why this is worth 60 seconds before asking for an hour.
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#HealthcareCommunications #Biopharma #EvidenceBasedCommunication #EngagementByDesign #TheImpactImperative
Recent posts:
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