Get to the point on the phone and in meetings, if other people tend to waffle then develop ways of politely cutting them off. Agendas in meetings with timings really help people stay focussed, and then if they wander you have a reason to bring them back in line. Aim to set an agenda (informally or formally) in every communication, if you’re going off track then ask to speak about the stray topic another time.

In email communication use bullets to state important points without the need for all the padding.