Avoid Wordiness.ppt
- 2. Writing clearly and concisely means choosing your words deliberately, constructing your sentences carefully, and using grammar properly. By writing clearly and concisely, you will get straight to your point in a way your audience can easily comprehend.
- 3. In order to succeed in your communication task, you need to keep your audience’s attention. Writing clearly and concisely is one way to capture and retain their interest. Rambling on, conversely, may lose your audience’s attention.
- 4. 1. Eliminate unnecessary determiners and modifiers Writers sometimes clog up their prose with one or more extra words or phrases that seem to determine narrowly or to modify the meaning of a noun but don't actually add to the meaning of the sentence. Although such words and phrases can be meaningful in the appropriate context, they are often used as "filler" and can easily be eliminated.
- 5. WORDY • Any particular type of dessert is fine with me. • Balancing the budget by Friday is an impossibility without some kind of extra help. MORE C ONCISE • Any dessert is fine with me. • Balancing the budget by Friday is impossible without extra help
- 6. Elaborate word Simple word ascertain commence constitute fabricate initiate terminate transmit utilize find out begin make up build begin end send use Use simple words
- 7. • Excessive detail • Before: I received and read the email you sent yesterday about the report you’re writing for the project. I agree it needs a thorough, close edit from someone familiar with your audience. • After: I received your email about the project report and agree it needs an expert edit. Eliminate unnecessary words
- 8. • Extra determiners and modifiers • Before: Basically, the first widget pretty much surpassed the second one in overall performance. • After: The first widget performed better than the second.
- 9. • Repetitive words • Before: The engineer considered the second monitor an unneeded luxury. • After: The engineer considered the second monitor a luxury.
- 10. Avoid kind of sort of type of specific really basically for all intents and purposes particular definitely actually generally individual
- 11. WORDY • For all intents and purposes, American industrial productivity generally depends on certain factors that are really more psychological in kind than of any given technological aspect. MORE CONCISE • American industrial productivity depends more on psychological than on technological factors.
- 12. Change phrases into single words WORDY • The employee with ambition... • The department showing the best performance... • Jeff Converse, our chief of consulting, suggested at our last board meeting the installation of microfilm equipment in the department of data processing. MORE CONCISE • The ambitious employee... • The best-performing department... • At our last board meeting, Chief Consultant Jeff Converse suggested that we install microfilm equipment in the data processing department.
- 13. Avoid overusing expletives at the beginning of sentences WORDY • It is the governor who signs or vetoes bills. • There are four rules that should be observed: ... • There was a big explosion, which shook the windows, and people ran into the street. MORE C ONCISE • The governor signs or vetoes bills. • Four rules should be observed:... • A big explosion shook the windows, and people ran into the street
- 14. Use active rather than passive verbs WORDY • An account was opened by Mrs. Simms. • Your figures were checked by the research department. MORE CONCISE • Mrs. Simms opened an account. • The research department checked your figures.
- 15. Reword unnecessary infinitive phrases WORDY • The function of this department is the collection of accounts. • The current focus of the medical profession is disease prevention. MORE CONCISE This department collects accounts. The medical profession currently focuses on disease prevention.
- 16. WORDY • At this/that point in time... • In accordance with your request... MORE C ONCISE • Now/then... As you requested...
- 17. WORDY • It is possible that nothing will come of these preparations. • She has the ability to influence the outcome. • It is necessary that we take a stand on this pressing issue. MORE CONCISE • Nothing may come of these preparations. • She can influence the outcome • We must take a stand on this pressing issue.