As previously mentioned, research feedback I give to more junior research collaborators tends to fall into one of three categories:

Doing quick sanity checks
Saying precisely what you want to say
Asking why one more time

In each case, I think the advice can be taken to an extreme I no longer endorse. Accordingly, I’ve tried to spell out the degree to which you should implement the advice, as well as what “taking it too far” might look like.

I talked about doing quick sanity checks in a previous piece. Here, I talk about the second piece of advice: saying precisely what you want to say.

Saying precisely what you want to say

The second most common feedback is that you should write down precisely what you want to express.

One of the most common interactions I have with junior researchers goes as follows: I read a draft section of their research writeup. This often consists of many paragraphs detailing various seemingly disconnected ideas, as well as 5-10 different figures. I’m confused about what the point of the section is. I ask them what exactly they’re trying to say in the section. They give me a [...]

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

---

First published:
April 2nd, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wX8JniiTpbYBdWopD/common-research-advice-2-say-precisely-what-you-want-to-say

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Heatmap showing measles cases by state from 1930 to 2015, with vaccine introduction marked.

Business presenter on stage showing V-shaped recovery graph with

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

“Common research advice #2: say precisely what you want to say” by LawrenceC

LessWrong (30+ Karma)