Improve Your Writing With This Memo From Winston Churchill

In 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain raging in the skies, Churchill declared war on fluffy writing.

Eighty-two years later, the memo he sent is still highly relevant for anyone who has to write something.

Keep it short, make it conversational, and "the discipline of setting out the real points concisely will prove an aid to clearer thinking," Churchill advises.

Amen to that.

Churchill is famed for being the ‘British Bulldog’ whose speeches inspired a nation against seemingly insurmountable odds.

He was also a writing workhorse.

Over his lifetime, he wrote more words than Dickens and Shakespeare combined.

His published speeches stretch to eighteen volumes, while his memos and letters run into the millions and fill over 2,500 boxes.

He even won a Nobel Prize for his writing.

And that makes him a top copy dog.

"If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. if you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. if you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now." — Winston Churchill

The bottom line?

To speak concisely requires more preparation than rambling.

The same is true for writing that packs a punch in a small space.

His memo on Brevity is a PAS+O copywriting formula in Action:

1. Problem: Make your reader aware of the problem

2. Agitate: Explain how it affects the reader

3. Solution: Encourage your reader to take action

4. Outcome: Highlight the desired outcome that is meaningful for the reader

I don’t care what it is.

Blog posts.

Email headlines.

Articles.

Resumes.

Google docs.

Reports.

Job ads.

Paid Facebook ads.

Presentations.

Cut the fluff, make them shorter.

Then cut out some more.

It should hurt.

Say more with less.

The shorter you can be to make your points, the better.

Speak like a human.

Write something human.

That’s all I’m going to say.

Because, well, brevity always wins.

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