8 Quotes by Kenneth Roman

Advertising is judged not by what it says, but by what the consumer thinks it says.

One executive suggests a discipline – putting down first what you want the reader to do, next the three most important things the reader needs to understand to take that action, then starting to write. When you’re done, he suggests asking yourself whether if you were the reader, would you take action on the basis of what is written.

Bad writing slows things down; good writing speeds them up.

Take the time to boil down what you want to say, and express it confidently in simple, declarative sentences. Remember the man who apologized for writing such a long letter, explaining that he didn’t have time to write a short one.

Most murky writing is inadvertent, a sincere if doomed effort to communicate. Far worse is the deliberate attempt to say something that you know readers won’t like in a way that you hope they won’t understand.

There are only 266 words in the Gettysburg Address. The shortest sentence in the New Testament may be the most moving: “Jesus wept.

This style of talk is generally heard among middle managers. It seldom comes from the CEO, who, having risen to the top, is less interested in impressing people than in clear communications – and getting things done.

Someone asked Rodin how he could sculpt an elephant out of marble. It’s easy, he responded, “You just chip away everything that isn’t an elephant.” Chip away everything that isn’t your point.