➏ Clean, intuitive visuals help amplify or bring to life an important point.

5. Smart Brevity is versatile.

Mark Twain famously said “the difference between the almost right word and the right word . . . ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

1. Smart Brevity is teachable.

➌ Read it aloud. Confirm it sounds like something that would entice you to want or need more.

➎ Then, write a few more items in Smart Brevity, in order of importance.

• Never get “retribution” if you can get “revenge.”

• Communications failures can cripple or confuse an entire organization.

Why it matters: Emojis, once the cheeky domain of kids and jokes, can be absolute conveying emotion, intent and even nuance.