David P. answered 06/11/23
A 25 year career in Corporate Finance, PE and Investment Banking.
It is true that speaking or writing concisely can save time, energy, and money. Let's break down the calculations based on the information provided:
Word Quantity:
By transforming the sentence "Never use a longer word where a short one will do" (11 words) into "Use the shortest words that work" (6 words), you achieve a reduction of 5 words. This represents a 32% decrease in the number of words used.
Time:
If you typically take 60 minutes to convey your message wordily, by speaking or writing concisely, you can accomplish the same task in only 48 minutes. This results in a time saving of 12 minutes (20% of 60 minutes).
Money:
Assuming you earn $30 per hour, speaking or writing concisely for one hour will save you 12 minutes of time. Since you earn $30 per hour, those 12 minutes equate to a monetary saving of $6.00 (12 minutes * $0.50 per minute).
To summarize, by practicing concise articulation, you can save 32% in word quantity, 20% in time, and $6.00 in earnings, based on the given example and calculations.