Just Like It’s Not Easy bein’ Green, It’s Not Easy bein’ Brief
Thomas J. Madden, Chairman and CEO, Transmedia Group
Take it from me, a writer of speeches, books and blogs. It takes a lot more time and effort to write a short piece, versus a long one.
And usually the shorter they are, the more punch they have, definitely in humor with the famous “one liner.” Is not brevity the soul of wit? I believe it’s the soul of a lot more.If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter. Nobody’s certain who said it. Maybe Pascal, Voltaire, Winston Churchill. Maybe it was me. I wish.Whoever said it was a genius because if you can master brevity, the result is magic. With fewer words, there’s more punch, more gusto, more impact. I tell interns at my PR firm, TransMedia Group, that no media pitch should be more than 25 words. And a dozen words doubles the chances of getting a reporter’s attention to the story you’re trying to sell.Maybe we all owe Twitter a thank you.Look at Trump’s tweets. Yes many loathe them, make fun of them, wish they’d go away and just disappear. But you have to admit, they have impact. They get attention. Stir the pot."It's Not Easy Bein' Green" was a popular song many of us remember Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog singing on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. It was later sung by Frank Sinatra and others.In the Muppets version, Kermit begins by lamenting his green coloration, expressing that green "blends in with so many ordinary things" and wishing to be some other color.But by the end of the song, Kermit recalls positive associations with green, and concludes by accepting and embracing his greenness.Yes, I’m sure many of us at times wish we were a different height, a different weight or color, a different age, and certainly in a different income bracket. If we’re smart, however, we conclude we’re just fine the way we are.
But it does in fact take more time and effort to write a short blog, so after a lot of thought, I’m going to stop right here.
[author] About the Author: Thomas Madden is CEO of TransMedia Group, one of the largest independent PR firms in Florida, where it currently operates. The firm’s clients have included AT&T, American Red Cross, City of New York, GL Homes, Jordache Enterprises, McCormick and Schmick’s, Rexall Sundown, Stanley Steemer. Want to read a short insightful, funny little book, only 100 pages? Read my “Is there enough Brady in Trump to win the inSUPERable BOWL?” available on Amazon.[/author]
