Whether you want to make an impression on a reporter, reader or potential customer, you have a limited amount of time in which to grab their attention. You need to edit your writing so that you convey the central information up front. At the same time, you need to set yourself apart from the crowd. If you struggle to stay under word limits or convey your core messaging, try these strategies:
Question redundancies
Make every word count. There’s no purpose in saying that something is “totally essential” — “essential” conveys an absolute need by itself. Before you call something a “new innovation,” consider, under what circumstances would you write “old innovation”?
Reference this list of common redundant expressions and see how many of them slip into your writing.
Read over a piece of writing you admire. Note how often adjectives, especially superlatives, modify the verbs and nouns. When used with care, adjectives spice up your writing. If deployed haphazardly, they can obscure and minimize the impact of your point. If you struggle to trim your writing, experiment with giving yourself an adjective budget. When editing, cut out the excess. The first to go should be words like “really” and “very,” which rarely add value to a piece.
Business writing is often redundant from sentence to sentence as well. You want your marketing materials to emphasize the differentiating factors of your product or service, but unnecessary fluff can easily creep into your writing. Eliminate filler. If your About page says that your company has grown from 10 to 20 employees over the past year, it doesn’t need to also say that the company has doubled in size. Pick one.
Improve business communications by trimming words that do little work. Photo by Abhisek Sarda
Replace the almost-right word with the right word
After you’ve completed a draft, step away from your writing. When you edit it, strive to perfect the phrasing. Often, we use many words to say what could be better said with one because the precise word is elusive. Circle or underline areas where you think there is a better way to convey your meaning. See what marked sections you can improve.
Have a colleague review your writing. They can check for grammar and spelling errors, and tell you what they understand from your piece. Perhaps the piece doesn’t convey what your want it to, another indication that you can improve the precision of your language.
As Mark Twain wrote, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightening bug and the lightening.” Choose your words carefully, and the impact of your communications will improve.
