TL:DR – Brevity is not bad.

Some of you may appreciate Blaise Pascal for his contributions to math and physics.

Some of you may appreciate him for his awesome mustache!

While I appreciate those qualities about Pascal as well, what I appreciate most is his insight into Instructional Design.

Yes. Really.

As IDs, we can learn a lot from Blaise Pascal.

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.

While often attributed to Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, or Abe Lincoln, the first written record of this quip belongs in actuality to Blaise Pascal. Regardless of who said it first, the truth remains:

Editing takes time.

This was true then.

This is true now.

This is particularly true for instructional designers.

In instructional design, we often equate more with better: more slides, more scenarios, more content. But the real power lies in distillation.

It takes time to condense a 60-minute training (too long for most adult learners) into 20 minutes without losing its impact. It takes skill to trim a five-step process into three, and still make it stick. It takes focus to cut jargon and speak in plain, human terms.

Brevity is not laziness. It’s precision.

The best learning experiences aren’t the longest or the flashiest—they’re the clearest. And clarity is what your learners actually need.

So take the time to write the “shorter letter.”

Your learners will thank you for it.

Training Tip:

When creating training for process updates, consider a condensed job aid only showing the new changes for those who are already familiar with the tool/process. They will appreciate not having to complete a more robust training course covering what they already know.

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The ID Department understands the editing process. That is why we provide unlimited reviews from unlimited reviewers and unlimited revisions. We are not done editing until you say we are.

We can help you craft your training to achieve Fortune 500–level results for a fraction of the Fortune 500 budget. Learn how here.

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