Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less book cover

Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less by Joseph McCormack Summary

Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less
Joseph McCormack
3.72 (1584 Reviews)
Communication skill
Business
Productivity
Overview
Key Takeaways
Author
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Overview of Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less

In a world where professionals' attention spans have shrunk to just eight seconds, "Brief" delivers the B.R.I.E.F. method that's transforming business communication. Featured on top podcasts, McCormack's counterintuitive approach proves that saying less actually makes your message impossible to ignore.

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Key takeaways

1

Why Your Words Are Drowning in Digital Noise

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Every morning, you wake to 304 unread emails. Your phone buzzes 150 times before lunch. You scroll through 100,500 words daily-more text than *War and Peace*-yet retain almost nothing. Your attention span? Eight seconds. Less than a goldfish. This isn't a personal failing; it's the new reality of human cognition in the digital age. Here's the uncomfortable truth: when you finally get someone's attention, you have five minutes, not fifty. Military special ops teams discovered this the hard way, transforming their briefings from exhaustive data dumps to laser-focused updates. The result? Mission success rates climbed. Business email traffic now exceeds 100 billion messages daily, and yours is competing with all of them. Companies like Harley-Davidson and MasterCard have made brevity training mandatory because they understand what most professionals haven't grasped: in an attention economy, wordiness is career suicide. You're not just competing for attention-you're fighting for survival. If you can't capture someone's focus quickly, you've already lost them.

2

The Four Forces Destroying Your Message and Seven Sins Sabotaging Your Clarity

3

Building Your Message Architecture with BRIEF Maps

4

Crafting Narratives That Stick

5

Mastering the Conversational Dance and Visual Revolution

6

Practical Techniques and Real-World Transformation

7

Your Brevity Practice Starts Now

Explore Your Way of Learning
Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less isn't just a book — it's a masterclass in Communication skill. To help you absorb its lessons in the way that works best for you, we offer five unique learning modes. Whether you're a deep thinker, a fast learner, or a story lover, there's a mode designed to fit your style.

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Distill Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less into rapid-fire memory cues that highlight Pixar’s principles of candor, teamwork, and creative resilience.

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Fun Mode - Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less Lessons Told Through 22-Min Stories

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Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less Lessons Told Through 22-Min Stories

Experience Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less through vivid storytelling that turns Pixar’s innovation lessons into moments you’ll remember and apply.

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@Raaaaaachelw
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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@djmikemoore
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@Cashflowbubu
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@Moemenn
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@Chloe, Solo founder, LA
platform
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@Raaaaaachelw
platform
star
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@Matt, YC alum
platform
comments
12
likes
108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
platform
comments
254
likes
17

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
platform
star
star
star
star
star

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful
platform
comments
96
likes
4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP
platform
star
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"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon
platform
comments
201
thumbsUp
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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke
platform
star
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"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn
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37
likes
483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu
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star
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