The Power of Less: Cutting the Communication Noise

By John Millen

My first job out of college was working in sales and marketing for Procter & Gamble. In sending messages, what were called “memos,” we were not allowed to write more than one page.

We had to describe a proposal, a problem or some other situation in a single-page.

This frustrated many of my colleagues, but since I had been a communication/journalism major in college, I preferred the concise approach.

I was thinking about this because I believe there’s a quiet epidemic sweeping through business today. It’s the epidemic of over-explaining.

If you look at the communication flowing through corporate email and messaging platforms today, you’ll find a staggering amount of noise.

My clients share some crazy examples with me.

Simple updates have morphed into multi-paragraph essays.

Basic project handoffs look like legal briefs.

Managers are data-dumping every detail of their daily tasks, while employees are over-justifying routine decisions before anyone even asks a question.

This isn’t a technology problem. It’s a confidence and trust problem—and it’s costing us all our most valuable resource: attention.

The Psychology of "Presence Theatre"

Why are professional, highly capable adults suddenly using five hundred words when fifty would do?

In the modern hybrid and remote workplace, physical visibility has vanished. In a traditional office, your presence is obvious. You are seen at your desk, walking to a meeting or collaborating in a conference room.

But when teams work apart, that baseline reassurance disappears.

This lack of visibility has bred a deep, collective anxiety that organizational psychologists call "productivity signaling" or "presence theatre."

Because people worry their bosses or peers might assume they aren't working, they overcompensate through written text. They write endless walls of words to subconsciously signal: "Look at how much I wrote—I am working!"

Also, without visual or tonal cues—like a warm smile or relaxed body language—short text messages can easily feel cold or aggressive.

To soften the blow, leaders and employees add layers of corporate throat-clearing fluff ("Just checking in, absolutely no pressure at all, but if you happen to have a quick second...").

The result? We’re drowning our colleagues in a sea of unnecessary context.

The Real Cost of Information Overload

When over-explaining becomes an organizational habit, the effects are immediate and severe:

• The "Tune Out" Effect: When every message is a novel, people stop reading thoroughly. They skim.

  Critical details are missed, deadlines are overlooked, and crucial directives get buried under background noise.

• Paralyzing Decision Fatigue: Teams spend hours sifting through paragraphs of conversational filler just to find the actual, load-bearing request.

• Erosion of Trust: Ironically, over-explaining does the exact opposite of what the writer intends. Instead of projecting thoroughness, it projects insecurity.

  It signals that the sender lacks the confidence to stand by a concise statement or trust their team to handle ambiguity.

True leadership communication requires a steady, grounded hand. Brevity signals clarity, competence and mutual trust. Over-explaining signals fear.

4 practical ways to cut the noise

If you want to rescue your team's attention and restore impact to your organizational communication, here are four practical tips:

1. Lead with the bottom line

Never bury your primary request at the absolute bottom of a long message. Adopt the journalist’s habit of placing the "lead" right at the top.

State your explicit purpose, question or call to action in the very first sentence, then provide only the essential context below it.

2. Embrace the power of the pause

Before you hit send on a lengthy explanation, ask yourself: Am I answering a question that hasn't been asked yet? Give your team the dignity of space.

Deliver the high-level summary or decision first, and trust that if they need deeper context or have follow-up questions, they will ask.

3. Ruthlessly edit the "fluff"

We often write the way we talk, which includes natural verbal pacing. But in text, those pacing phrases become dead weight. Make it a habit to audit your drafted emails.

Cut out the apologetic qualifiers, the over-softened transitions, and the repetitive justifications.

If you can delete a paragraph without changing the outcome of the message, delete it.

4. Pick Up the Phone

If an issue requires a massive wall of text to explain its nuance, tone, and background, it shouldn't be a text message or an email.

A quick, two-minute phone call or direct conversation can accomplish what a three-page memo never will.

It restores the human connection, clarifies the tone and saves hours of back-and-forth typing.

Exactly what’s necessary

Your words have power, but only if people have the bandwidth to hear them. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to protect our team's focus.

Choose your words with intention, deliver them with confidence and remember that sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can say is exactly what is necessary—and nothing more.