Sell your ideas more effectively by creating a Twitter-friendly summary. I once talked to an early investor in Google who said the Google guys—Sergey Brin and Larry Page—were able to explain their new service to investors in one sentence: “Google allows you to access the world’s information in one click.” Today if you walk into this investors office to pitch your company, you’d better be able to give him the big picture in one sentence because that is what he expects.

I counted the number of characters in the original Google pitch and realized that—at 64 characters—it fits well within a Twitter post. Twitter, of course, allows users to post messages at a maximum length of 140 characters. I think it’s a great exercise for business professionals who are struggling with developing the message behind a new product, service, company or initiative. Can you describe the product in 140 characters or less? If not, go back to the drawing board.

This isn’t an empty exercise. There is science behind it. I spoke to John Medina, a brain scientist at the University of Washington. He said the brain is programmed to see the “big picture before detail.” He told me a funny story about the evolution of the human brain—Medina says that when primitive man came face to face with a tiger, he did not ask “How many teeth the does the tiger have?” Instead he asked, “Will it eat me?” Big picture before details.

The folks in Apple’s marketing department understand this process very well. Apple never releases a new product without framing the message in one short sentence, always well within 140 characters. For example, the MacBook Air is simply, “The world’s thinnest notebook.” If that’s all you know about the new computer, it tells you a lot. What’s the iPad? “Apple’s most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device.” If you conduct an online search for either of those phrases, you will find hundreds of thousands of results.

That’s because Apple uses the phrases consistently in all of its marketing and advertising. Bloggers and reporters will then pick up on the same messaging. Think about it. How many times have you been to a Chamber of Commerce mixer  asked someone what they do, and left the conversation ten minutes later still wondering? It’s because people get far too granular, offering too many details before the big picture.

Use this Twitter exercise before introducing or pitching your new product, service or idea. A short burst of information can deliver a really big idea and outsized results.