If the title didn't give it away, I should warn you this "post" is not concise, but please do read it carefully if you think you can help. Thank you.
I hate to start like this, but a popular online dictionary defines "concise" as "brief in form but comprehensive in scope", and that's exactly what I'm going for.
I spend a lot of time in my own head and have lots to say about topics, but I'm also very literal and careful with my wording so I get my exact meaning and all the points I want to make across. As a result, I communicate in a way that accurately explains what I mean, but is seldom understood by others or myself when revising it.
Even after writing, it takes a while before I manage to understand segments of what I wrote and piece together their holistic meaning. I've practiced drafting stuff repeatedly before sending, but it takes too long for me to practice often without jeopardizing my schedule, and so far it hasn't improved my writing much (I've been doing this for years). It took me hours just to draft this "post". I saw a post recommending reading, but that hasn't helped much yet (though I could stand to read more fiction titles).
Using more vocab is both a blessing and a curse. Usually, when I find the right word, it's either so underused most people don't know it or so overused to the point where the functional definition used colloquially is more surface-level or even different from the dictionary definition. I could tailor my speech to each person I speak to, but I can't always do that if they're a stranger or I don't have the time and energy. It's especially bad for public speaking. Figures of speech just make things longer and add meaning I don't intend to convey.
When speaking, my communication is worse because I do a stream of consciousness (kind of like a running sentence) and everything comes out a jumbled mess. When I spend too long thinking about what to say I end up forgetting most of it. I thought the solution would be to only say part of what you mean and phrase it in a way that triggers a specific follow-up response leading into your next point. Aside from its unreliability, this method draws conversations out to the point where people either forget my previous points and repeat older questions or just quit and leave before I'm finished. Few people have the patience pick up where we left off.
If you've any book/reading list suggestions, I'd immensely appreciate it. Thanks again for reading.
by Common_Lawyer_7446