Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, you’re going to face plenty of writing in the professional world.

You’ll start by writing your resume and cover letters, trying to make a great first impression, and you’ll continue throughout your career, writing internal and external emails, communicating your progress with your superiors, and delegating tasks to your subordinates.

The quality of your writing matters, and the success of your professional communication is dependent on whether your message is belayed clearly and appropriately.

But that doesn’t mean you have to expand your vocabulary or go back to school for more communicative education. In fact, most people can improve the clarity and composition of their professional messaging with one simple trick: making your messages shorter.

Why Shorter Is Better

Shorter isn’t always better when it comes to writing. Dostoyevsky novels are notoriously long because of their intellectual depth and reliance on reader immersion. Engineering manuals require extra length because of the sheer complexity of their subject matter. But in the professional world, shorter is almost always better. This is because professional messaging only has one purpose: to convey a straightforward message to another party.

Shorter messages enjoy the following benefits over longer counterparts:

They save time, both for you and for your intended recipient. You spend less time writing your message, and they spend less time reading it. This may not seem like much, but if you consider the fact that a single shortened message could save you five minutes and your reader five minutes, that’s ten minutes of saved time per message — if you send ten messages a day, that’s over nine hours of saved time every week.

You spend less time writing your message, and they spend less time reading it. This may not seem like much, but if you consider the fact that a single shortened message could save you five minutes and your reader five minutes, that’s ten minutes of saved time per message — if you send ten messages a day, that’s over nine hours of saved time every week. They focus on the core message. By deliberately keeping your messages as short as possible, you’ll be able to successfully filter out any words or phrases that do not pertain to your main idea. Otherwise, distractions or tangential thoughts could creep into your messaging, and leave you with an overburdened message.

By deliberately keeping your messages as short as possible, you’ll be able to successfully filter out any words or phrases that do not pertain to your main idea. Otherwise, distractions or tangential thoughts could creep into your messaging, and leave you with an overburdened message. They force structure. Instead of rambling about a given topic, when you force yourself to remain concise, you force yourself to find and adhere to a given structure. Sometimes that structure is a simple paragraph with a beginning, middle, and end. Other times, it’s a series of bullet points or an outline format.

Instead of rambling about a given topic, when you force yourself to remain concise, you force yourself to find and adhere to a given structure. Sometimes that structure is a simple paragraph with a beginning, middle, and end. Other times, it’s a series of bullet points or an outline format. They eliminate the attention span problem. People can lose interest in a message quickly, either because of a naturally low attention span or an attention span that has been shortened by stress or fatigue. That means if you take the time to write a long message, only a fraction of your message could ultimately get through. Short messages eliminate this pesky attention span problem, and ensure that most — if not all — of your core message gets to its intended audience.

People can lose interest in a message quickly, either because of a naturally low attention span or an attention span that has been shortened by stress or fatigue. That means if you take the time to write a long message, only a fraction of your message could ultimately get through. Short messages eliminate this pesky attention span problem, and ensure that most — if not all — of your core message gets to its intended audience. There are fewer chances for misinterpretation. Written communication is open to interpretation, and that leaves vulnerabilities in the integrity of your messages. The longer your messages are, the more opportunities there will be for the reader to take extra liberties with the message’s intention. Keeping your messages short avoids many of those opportunities.

There are a number of messaging mediums you’ll encounter throughout your career, and almost all of them will see these benefits when you keep them as concise as possible. Let’s take a look at some of these mediums in detail, and examine how each of them can specifically benefit from a shorter format.

Short Resumes

Resumes (and by extension, cover letters), are the first chance you’ll have to make an impression on a potential employer. Today, many people rely on social networks like LinkedIn or online portfolios to serve as a resume, but these interactive online resumes can benefit from conciseness just as much as traditionally written resumes.

When you’re writing your resume (or updating it online), pay close attention to the following:

Restrict your list of achievements and work history to what is relevant for the position you’re seeking. For example, if you’re shooting for a position as an accountant, it wouldn’t make sense to mention your bartending experience.

to what is relevant for the position you’re seeking. For example, if you’re shooting for a position as an accountant, it wouldn’t make sense to mention your bartending experience. Keep your objectives and cover letter short and to-the-point. Resume reviewers aren’t going to spend time reading a flowery narrative. They want one or two sentences that sum up your goals and experience.

Resume reviewers aren’t going to spend time reading a flowery narrative. They want one or two sentences that sum up your goals and experience. Use structure to eliminate unnecessary wording. For example, instead of writing an entire sentence about your accomplishment, sum it up as an abbreviated bullet point. This will help prevent reader fatigue, and will call more attention to your individual accomplishments.

Short Memos

Memos are usually sent in the form of mass email updates, but they’re still important as an independent medium of communication. Since they’re used to distribute a piece of information to a wide audience, it’s important that their messaging is optimized to be read and understood easily by the masses, and that means keeping them short.

If you’re drafting a memo, use these tips to keep it concise and easy to understand:

Use the subject line as your abbreviated memo. Some of your employees and subordinates will not even bother to read your carefully crafted memo. While this is an undesirable behavior, you can use your subject line to make sure your fundamental message gets through. Summarize the memo in one sentence, and use that as your subject line.

Some of your employees and subordinates will not even bother to read your carefully crafted memo. While this is an undesirable behavior, you can use your subject line to make sure your fundamental message gets through. Summarize the memo in one sentence, and use that as your subject line. Skip the details. If you’re making changes to a company health plan, there’s no need to document every little change in the body of your initial message. Instead, direct your readers where to go for more information; for example, you could write “see human resources for more details” and skip entire paragraphs of dead space.

If you’re making changes to a company health plan, there’s no need to document every little change in the body of your initial message. Instead, direct your readers where to go for more information; for example, you could write “see human resources for more details” and skip entire paragraphs of dead space. Clearly separate different announcements. If you’re using a memo for multiple updates, be sure to keep them visually distinct in the body of your memo.

Short Emails

Both internal and external emails are essential to keeping your operations running smoothly. They’re responsible for making introductions, posting updates and recaps from meetings, and posing questions and answers in a referenceable thread. Keeping your emails short can avoid a lot of wasted productivity and prevent misinterpretations proactively.

When you’re writing internal or external emails, put your emphasis on the following:

Adhere to a focal point of each email. Don’t try to cram multiple updates into one email—instead, keep your intentions clear. If you’re writing an email as an update on a specific project, keep your focus on that specific projects and don’t allow other projects to creep in.

Don’t try to cram multiple updates into one email—instead, keep your intentions clear. If you’re writing an email as an update on a specific project, keep your focus on that specific projects and don’t allow other projects to creep in. Don’t embellish the facts. If you’re posting objective information in the body of your email, don’t adorn it with verbosity. Keep your information concise.

If you’re posting objective information in the body of your email, don’t adorn it with verbosity. Keep your information concise. Make your action items clear. Instead of getting lost in the body of a rambling email, call your action items out by using a bulleted list, or establishing a short recap section that outlines them.

Keeping your professional writing concise is the best way to ensure your messages are executed efficiently and accurately. With written communication, there’s never a guarantee of perfection, but eliminating the unnecessary fluff is a great first step to maximizing your impact. Implement a process of consolidation and abbreviation in all your writing, and you’ll begin to grow more effective as a communicator.

Jayson DeMers is the founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, a Seattle-based content marketing & social media agency. You can contact him on LinkedIn, Google+, or Twitter.