Guide 144 / 200 4 alternatives 2-minute read
Better ways to say “Long story short”
A prelude that rarely shortens the story.
i · Why avoid itTwo lines, no filler
"Long story short" promises brevity and delivers the opposite. Either tell the short version or tell the long one. The phrase is filler.
ii · Before & afterDrop-in demo
Before
Long story short, we ended up replacing the vendor.
After
We replaced the vendor.
iii · The alternatives4 ways out
- 01In short neutral
if a compressed version is coming
In short, we replaced the vendor.
- 02Briefly neutral
signal a short version
Briefly, we replaced the vendor.
- 03To summarise formal
formal summary
To summarise, we replaced the vendor.
- 04[delete it] neutral
usually the right move
We replaced the vendor.
iv · Brew tipKeep this one
If the story is short, just tell it. If it's long, own the length.