A third-grader had to do a book report, and he chose a Socrates biography. His report consisted of three succinct sentences:

1. Socrates was a philosopher.

2. He talked a lot.

3. They killed him.

Not much more to say about brevity. Maybe that’s why President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.”

This is a good explanation for why people are so long-winded. It’s easier. You don’t need to think and prepare as much. Just let it roll.

Maybe that’s why William Shakespeare wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

One thing I know is that brevity is powerful. People who can speak or write concisely and to the point are more successful.

The late comedian George Burns was right on the money when he quipped, “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.”

I have a little different take on preparation. The nature of my public speaking engagements usually requires me to orate for longer periods. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need to be completely ready and well-researched to keep my points brief and interesting.

If I have to make a 60-minute speech on a new subject, I figure it will take 60 hours of preparation. It boils down to about an hour of preparation for every minute, if you want your message to be good. You never want your audience to wonder if you will ever stop talking. You want to leave them wanting more -- more fabulous content, not just more words.

Are you one of those people for whom conveying information can sometimes turn into the unraveling of a saga? Here are some tips adapted from the now-defunct iVillage.com on how to keep your conversations short and sweet when necessary.

-- Don’t get bogged down with irrelevant details. Get to the meat of the information as directly as possible. “I talked with Jim Thursday, or was it Wednesday? No, I think it was Thursday.” Does anyone really care? Get to the point.

-- Don’t repeat information. Unless the person with whom you’re talking indicates that he or she didn’t hear what you said, say things only once. I can’t tell you how many times I hear the same message repeated over and over with different words. Don’t rehash old news.

-- Take a writing class. A good writing class can teach you to make your points using the fewest words possible. The training can also benefit your spoken communications.

-- Eliminate non-word fillers. I am very aware (and annoyed) when people use too many “ums,” “likes” and “you knows.” It’s better to pause briefly and say nothing.

-- Bring up information that is relevant to most of the group. Save any questions specific to you or any specialized conversations for later discussion.

Here’s a grand example of when short is sweet. One of the most memorable Academy Award acceptance speeches was delivered by Patty Duke, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Miracle Worker.” She uttered just two words: Thank you.

If all the winners were so succinct, the entire program would last about an hour instead of three or four.

Here's a funny story to wrap things up. The lesson in writing for newspapers is always “Be brief!” However, a certain beginner in journalism picked up what seemed to him to be a big story. He hurried to text his editor what he had uncovered.

The editor responded promptly, “Go ahead and write 600 words.”

The enthusiastic young reporter was depressed and fired back a text, “Story can’t be told in less than 1,200 words.”

The editor’s reply said, “Story of world’s creation was told in 600 words. Try it.”

Mackay’s Moral: Short speeches often deliver big messages.

Whether you run your own business or work for a company in a sales-related role, you’re always looking for sales techniques that work. I’ve developed and learned many over the years from readers providing great advice.

One person advised me to ask "yes or yes" questions. He worked for Hyatt Hotels and asked himself, “What else can I do for Hyatt?” Then it hit him: “Increase the average check price.”

He said: “Restaurants are always looking to grow the average amount of money their diners spend. Usually, they do this by pushing wine and other alcoholic beverages and dessert. But those weren’t options for a place that served so much breakfast. I was going to have to be more creative.

“The impressive fresh-squeezed orange juice maker we had ... gave me an idea. I had just learned about the 'yes or yes' theory at a sales seminar. I put a big display of oranges outside the entrance to the restaurant, and while guests were lined up to get in, I had a waitress ask each customer if they would like coffee or juice. Little room for a 'no' in that question.

“As it happened, most people said, ‘Both.’ Pretty soon, the coffee or juice proposition became standard operating practice at all Hyatt coffee shops -- along with the welcoming display of fresh oranges. Never ask a person a yes or no question when it could be yes or yes instead.”

My good friend Brandon Steiner, founder and owner of one of the largest memorabilia dealers in the country, Steiner Sports, has another good suggestion. And I might add, one that I’ve used quite often.

Say you’re having a tough time getting a meeting with someone -- a potential client, investor or mentor. You try everything: persistent calls, emails, tweets, carrier pigeon. But nothing works.

This happened to Brandon a couple of years ago when he was trying to get a meeting with a bigwig at a bank in Midtown Manhattan. He figured since his target was a New Yorker, he might be a Yankees fan, so he called Mr. Big’s assistant. Before she could pass him to voicemail for the umpteenth time, Brandon learned that his quarry was a huge admirer of Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. With that news, Brandon saw the light. He immediately sent Mr. Big an empty baseball case with a note attached.

It read: “I heard you love Mariano Rivera. Here’s a case for a Mariano-signed baseball. When you and I meet within the next two weeks, I’ll bring you the ball.”

Wouldn’t you know it? Mr. Big called Brandon that day, and they met the next week.

A florist celebrating its 100th year in business explained its success as staying in touch with customers. The owner “has one employee responsible for sending out reminders of who-sent-what-to-whom last year at a particular time, and many repeat orders are generated by this simple call.”

I am inspired by Elbert Hubbard, a very successful soap salesperson who retired to become a writer and publisher in 1894 in his late 30s. He lived by this credo:

“I believe in myself. I believe in the goods I sell. I believe in the firm for whom I work. I believe in my colleagues and helpers. I believe in American business methods. I believe in producers, creators, manufacturers, distributors, and in all industrial workers of the world who have a job and hold it down. I believe that truth is an asset. I believe in good cheer and good health, and I recognize the fact that the first requisite in success is not to achieve the dollar or to confer a benefit, but that the reward will come automatically and usually as a matter of course. I believe in sunshine, fresh air, spinach, applesauce, laughter, buttermilk, babies and chiffon, always remembering that the greatest word in the English language is 'sufficiency.' I believe that when I make a sale, I make a friend. And I believe that when I part with a person, I must do it in such a way that when they see me again, they will be glad and so will I. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think and in the hearts that love.”

Mackay’s Moral: Don’t just make a sale, make a friend.

A confused young man went to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist intently listened to his patient and then offered his insight.

"It appears to me you have trouble making decisions. Would you agree?"

The young man pondered for a moment and then responded, "Well, yes and no."

Many people struggle with making decisions. Whether the issue is personal or professional, the inability to decide on a course of action can ruin relationships or careers.

"Inability to make decisions is one of the principal reasons executives fail," said leadership guru John Maxwell. "Deficiency in decision-making ranks much higher than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how as an indicator of leadership failure."

Remember the time-tested adage: Not to make a decision is a decision. Or as the always entertaining Yogi Berra put it, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

To make better decisions, or to teach employees to do so, try this counterintuitive approach: Assume that whatever decision you make will be wrong. If you have a choice between several options, just ask yourself which alternative you would regret most.

This will help you identify the option that, even if wrong, would cause you the fewest problems. You may not arrive at the perfect answer, but you'll at least identify the decision you can live with most comfortably.

Here's a perfect example. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower struggled mightily with the timing for D-Day because he could not make up his mind about the best moment for the attack. The strategy had been planned for years, but it came down to the weather conditions. The airborne attack needed a full moon and the Navy needed low tide.

He had teams of meteorologists advising him who determined that June 5 would be disastrous because of a looming storm. The weight of the decision was enormous for the more than 150,000 Allied troops involved.

Finally, he came to a decision to postpone the operations for a day. "No matter what the weather looks like, we have to go ahead now. Waiting any longer could be even more dangerous. So let's move it."

As the history books tell us, the June 6, 1944, attack marked a historic shift in World War II.

Few of us will ever face such a momentous decision. But for many day-to-day problems, we must recognize that there is a point at which we need to take a leap of faith, because there comes a point after that when the right decision becomes the wrong decision because it was made too late.

Consider these basic strategies for making good decisions most of the time:

-- List the pros and cons. This is a time-honored practice, but it's still useful. Document the reasons for and against each option. Don't make it an election -- one strong factor on the "yes" side can outweigh a dozen items on the "no" side. Sort out the issues and determine which way the facts and your emotions point.

-- Take other people's reactions and needs into account. You might not make everyone happy, but you want people to know you didn't ignore their feelings. Warning: What's popular isn't always right, and what's right isn't always popular!

-- Visualize the work. Develop a step-by-step list of what you'll actually need to do to reach your objective, and then picture yourself doing it. Will you be happy (or at least satisfied) along the way?

-- Start with a small step. Before implementing a decision, try working on one specific aspect of it. Can you do a good job? Or do you suddenly notice problems you hadn't anticipated? A test run can tell you a lot about whether or not a course of action is right for you.

-- Don't waste time. Take action once you're confident you've acquired the information you need.

-- Be decisive. Stick to your decision once you've made it. Change it only if the situation shifts. Take responsibility for your decisions.

-- Rely on your values. It is so much easier to make decisions when you have values that help you set guidelines for your decision-making.

You will occasionally second-guess yourself, and you might make a bad decision from time to time. But Robert H. Schuller's sage advice will help you: "Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass."

Mackay's Moral: A good decision is the best thing you'll ever make.