Joseph McCormack opens by describing how the sheer volume of modern communication has trained audiences to quickly tune out anything that isn't immediately clear and concise.

The environment this creates for communicators:

• Audiences make split-second decisions about whether to continue engaging with a message
• Lengthy, unclear communication gets abandoned before its actual content is absorbed, regardless of quality
• This shifts the burden onto communicators to earn continued attention quickly, rather than assuming patient audience engagement

This opening frames brevity not as a stylistic preference but as a practical necessity for actually being heard in a communication-saturated environment.