Cutting to the Core

Exercises Feb 9, 2026

20-minute Workroom PlayTime

What's your fundamental idea for your talk? The one thing you want an audience to hear, the post-it version, the single short sentence you use in a bar chat?

In this exercise, you'll work towards it – and it may be surprisingly different from where you started, and different again from your title.

You'll need to start with a worked-on talk, or at least an abstract. This is a reduction, not an expansion.

Exercise 1 – squish

5 mins

Squish your talk, {from opening to conclusion | the big points | the problem and its solution}, into 30 words or so. A few short sentences. You'll need to cut stuff out – and that's the point. Don't bother to cut conjunctions and pronouns: cut whole sections. Cut anything inferred or supporting. Amalgamate. Kill the jokes and teases and lists.

If possible, keep nothing of your original – rewrite.

The time for this is intentionally short. Don't polish. Don't share. It's fine if you hate what you've written.

Exercise 2 – sloganise

5 minutes

You just squished 300 words into 30. Now write 3.

Take your time to write at least one slogan summarising your whole talk. You'll probably need more than one word. You want to keep it under six. Go for three.

Or ignore this, and write a rhyme. Or draw a picture. You're aiming for instant comprehension – that's all that matters.