--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No-one can say just how long a message…" description: "\"No-one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what he is g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/edgar-dale-54119_communication_no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-s_1871307.jpg" --- # No-one can say just how long a message should be, but you… ![“No-one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what he is going to put into his speech. The expert worries about what he should take out. An artisitic performance is concentrated, has a central focus.” quote by Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/edgar-dale-54119_communication_no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-s_1871307.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/edgar-dale-54119_communication_no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-s_1871307.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/edgar-dale-54119_communication_no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-s_1871307.jpg) > “No-one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what he is going to put into his speech. The expert worries about what he should take out. An artisitic performance is concentrated, has a central focus.” [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Effective communication values conciseness; experts trim excess to keep focus, while novices over‑fill. **In simple terms:** Good speech is concise and focused. Key Takeaway Trim unnecessary content. Themes communication conciseness focus Mood reflective analytical Type advice instructional When to use this quote - public speaking - academic presentations - business pitches - teaching lectures Key Concepts editing audience perception information density Questions to Reflect On - What can you remove without losing meaning? - How does brevity affect audience engagement? A Different Perspective Over‑editing may strip essential nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amateur Worries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amateur-worries-300946/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Complaints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complaints/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long Message](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-message-300945/) [Messages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/messages/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Speech Expert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech-expert-2583093/) [Speech Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech-short-300944/) [Too short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-short/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [No one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-should-be-but-you-rarely-hear-2/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) > [No one ever complains about a speech being too short!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-hayes/no-one-ever-complains-about-a-speech-being-too-short/) [Ira Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-hayes/) > [“Do you know how you can tell a professional writer from an amateur?" "No." "An amateur worries about the work before starting. A professional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi/do-you-know-how-you-can-tell-a-professional-writer-from-an-amateur-no/) [Avi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi/) > [“No audience ever complained about a presentation or speech being too short”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-keague/no-audience-ever-complained-about-a-presentation-or-speech-being-too/) [Stephen Keague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-keague/) > [Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in few words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/let-thy-speech-be-short-comprehending-much-in-few-words/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [History teaches us that many breakthroughs were happy accidents. Whether that's penicillin coming from Fleming neglecting to clean his laboratory before going on vacation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/history-teaches-us-that-many-breakthroughs-were-happy-accidents/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Many of us get many messages in our lives, or think we get them. As long as the message is regarding our own selves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/many-of-us-get-many-messages-in-our-lives-or-think-we-get-them-as/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > ['Cause a musician, you can't tell me, "I've got this message I want share with the public," and it's three-and-a-half minutes long. That's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/cause-a-musician-you-can-t-tell-me-i-ve-got-this-message-i-want-share/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Spending a long time writing a really long message then accidentally pressing the back button.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/spending-a-long-time-writing-a-really-long-message-then-accidentally/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [Life is too short to leave your walls bare or colorless. Unless you like bare and colorless then it is fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-engelbreit/life-is-too-short-to-leave-your-walls-bare-or-colorless-unless-you/) [Mary Engelbreit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-engelbreit/) > [Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about those who don’t. Believe everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/life-is-too-short-to-wake-up-with-regrets-so-love-the-people-who/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [Life is too short to waste time harboring bad feelings about anyone. Forgive, forget, then move on!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-austin/life-is-too-short-to-waste-time-harboring-bad-feelings-about-anyone/) [Denise Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-austin/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [You have to treat yourself. Life is too short to deprive yourself of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-emmanuel/you-have-to-treat-yourself-life-is-too-short-to-deprive-yourself-of/) [Nathalie Emmanuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-emmanuel/) > [There is nothing more I ask of this life than this moment, exactly so. And suddenly forever seems like too short a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-andreas/there-is-nothing-more-i-ask-of-this-life-than-this-moment-exactly-so/) [Brian Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-andreas/) ## More by Edgar Dale > [There was never a time in our history when ignorance of current affairs could be so dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/there-was-never-a-time-in-our-history-when-ignorance-of-current/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) > [There never was a time in our history when ignorance of current affairs could be so dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/there-never-was-a-time-in-our-history-when-ignorance-of-current/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) > [One of the curious things about censorship is that no one seems to want it for himself. We want censorship to protect someone else;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/one-of-the-curious-things-about-censorship-is-that-no-one-seems-to/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) > [No one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/no-one-can-say-just-how-long-a-message-should-be-but-you-rarely-hear-2/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) > [One of the curious things about censorship is that no one seems to believe in it for himself. We want censorship to protect someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-dale/one-of-the-curious-things-about-censorship-is-that-no-one-seems-to-2/) [Edgar Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) [Explore all 6 Edgar Dale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-dale/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. 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The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No-one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what he is going to put into his speech. The expert worries about what he should take out. 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