Three-Minute Fix: Cut. It. Down.

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The weeds. Many pitches have gotten stuck in them. Many documents are stuffed with them. 

We’re talking about all the excessive details—and often it’s simply too much of a good thing.

Meanwhile there’s an amazing business idea, a killer concept or an important initiative buried and struggling to breathe. 

The first step to clarity is getting rid of what makes no sense. Yet this is one of the toughest tasks for ANYONE - founder, executive, intern, ALL OF US. 

Try this: 

  1. Print out your pitch deck. 

    Or web pages, too-long emails or a lengthy script.

  2. Get a highlighter pen

  3. Set a timer for 3 minutes. 

    (Under 10 slides or 2 pages? 2 MINUTES)

  4. Put yourself in the mind of your audience.

    1. What do they really care about?

    2. What do they accept as truth?

    3. What might surprise them?

    4. What have they heard too many times?

  5. Highlight ONLY the most key, highly critical ideas per slide, paragraph or web module. Graphics count, too.

  6. Time’s up: read the highlighted words out loud. 

    Whoa, that’s it? 

    Yes.

  7. Now see what you’ve got in the highlights. Turn it into the basics of an outline. See what’s missing. Cut everything that gets in the way. 

Happy highlighting! 




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julie kucinski