SAY IT ALL IN SIX WORDS

“Stand up.  Be heard.  Still listen.”  -- From Six-Word Memoir

“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise” – Proverbs 10:19

Smith Magazine is a site for storytellers and storytelling.  They have this great section called, The Six-Word Memoirs Project, which is a lot of fun.  You are to tell your story in six words.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

• Resolutions:  “This road seemed shorter last trip.”
• Happiness:  “Happiness is a small, bighearted church.”
• Love:  “Crazy glue does not mend hearts.”
• Life:  “I know exactly why I’m here.”

As you can see, you can say a lot with a few words.  It is also fun to bring our thoughts and statements down to only a few words.  15^th century monk, Thomas a Kempis said, “It is easier not to speak a word at all than to speak more words than we should.”  Too many words will always get you into trouble.  How many times have you thought you said a bit too much?  If you are like me, it has been many times.

Success-Minded People come to know that the old adage, “God gave you tow ears and one mouth so you should listen twice as much as you talk,” is very true.  People who talk too much do not always have to take things back or regret what they say.  Missionary Doctor to Africa, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, said, “I wanted to be a doctor that I might be able to work without having to talk because for years I had been giving myself out in words.”

The problem can come from the fact that many Success-Minded People have careers that require them to talk.  They can be in sales, public speaking, teaching, preaching or other more verbal professions.  So what do you do then?  It is you job to talk.  I think that it is not always the amount of words you are paid to give but the content of those words.  Here is the question to ask yourself, do you say what needs to be said or do you like to hear yourself talk?

Being a public speaker and preacher for many years I know that many in these wonderful professions love to hear themselves talk.  I have had to, and still have to, guard myself from falling into this trap.  We must constantly remind our self that people what to hear what we have to say, not hear us.  I have sat under preachers who took forty-five minutes to speak and those who take ten minutes.  I can honestly say that I learn more and retain more from a ten minute message than a full forty-five minute one.  John Bunyan, author of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress once said, “Words easy to be understood do often hit the mark, when high and learned ones do only pierce the air.”

It is better to be a clear, short speaker and remembered than an intellectually winded speaker and having people wonder what they heard.  If your intent is to change people and to add value to their life, you need to be sure they understand what you say.  A person thinking you are intelligent is different than thinking you are brilliant.  This is why most people read books that they can relate to and not text books.

Success-Minded People also know that when you talk a lot you lose energy.  If you have a plan or a dream that you talk about most of the time, chances are very good that you will never actually do it.  Think about this.  Do you know someone, or even yourself, who is constantly talking about what they will do or the dream they plan to achieve?  Do they ever do more than talk about it?  Most likely not.  Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing said, “I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into action which brings results.”  Simply put, the less you talk the more you do, the more you talk the less you do.  Even Saint Francis of Assisi understood this when he said, “Preach the gospel everyday; if necessary, use words.”

Can you think of ways to say what you need to in fewer words?  How about six words?  It takes some work but in the end it is very helpful.  I am not saying that you need to keep every thought down to six words, but it is a great exercise to practice with.  The less words, the clearer the thought, the easier it is to understand and the more effect it will have on the hearer.  Try it and see if it is not helpful to you.

Allow me to close by sharing a few six-word statements that I came up with for this piece.

• I love Jesus. He loves me.
• Listen more. Talk less. Add value.
• Hope I didn't say too much.

“Learn to hold thy tongue; five words cost Zacharias forty weeks of silence.” – Thomas Fuller

© Jack Hickey 2010